Cafundó (film)

Cafundó
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paulo Betti Clóvis Bueno
Produced by	Paulo Betti Virginia W. Moraes R.A. Gennaro
Written by	Clóvis Bueno
Starring	Lázaro Ramos Leona Cavalli Leandro Firmino da Hora Beto Guiz Ernani Moraes
Music by	André Abujamra
Cinematography	José Roberto Eliezer
Edited by	Sérgio Mekler
Production company	Prole de Adão
Distributed by	Laz Audiovisual
Release date	29 September 2005 (2005-09-29) (Brazil)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	Brazil
Language	Portuguese
Box office	R$185,707

Cafundó is 2005 Brazilian historical drama film written and directed by Paulo Betti and Clóvis Bueno and starring Lázaro Ramos.

Cafundó is a biopic of miracle worker preto velho João de Camargo of Sorocaba and is based on the book João de Camargo de Sorocaba: O Nascimento de uma Religião by Carlos de Campos and Adolfo Frioli. The title comes from a former quilombo, the source of João de Camargo's original spiritual inspiration, located in today's Salto de Pirapora.

São Paulo state, 1890s. João (Lázaro Ramos) is a former slave and the son of an Orisha priestess and works as a muleherd for a coronel. One day, he and his close friend Cirino (Leandro Firmino da Hora) decide to leave the farm. João takes his mother to Cafundó, the bastion of Afro-American religion in the vicinity. However, João leaves the community and takes errands to work in menial jobs. He meets a possessed white prostitute named Rosário (Leona Cavalli) and falls in love. Only after an unhappy marriage with Rosário and his mother's demise, João has a series of visions and decides to work as a spiritual leader for Sorocaba. In 1906, he builds a church with help from Cirino and begins to preach his syncretic faith, which is a blend of Orisha worship, veneration of Catholic saints, and eventually Kardecist spiritism.

To reconstruct the atmosphere of the 19th century, the natural scenery of Ponta Grossa and historic buildings of Lapa, Paranaguá and Antonina were chosen as filming locations.