Servidão

About the Film

The Exodus Road is partnering with renowned filmmaker Renato Barbieri (Gaya Filmes) to sponsor the documentary Servidão.

A feature-length documentary about contemporary slave labor focusing on the Brazilian Amazon, “Servidão” follows the work of the Special Mobile Inspection Group of the Ministry of Labour. Through the testimony of modern abolitionists and rural workers, it explores the links between contemporary slavery and a cruel slave-holding mentality that has existed in Brazil for five centuries. With narration by Negra Li, it is an important record of one of Brazil’s greatest ills.

The Exodus Road’s Brazil programs focus on training and technological support for law enforcement in the work of fighting labor and sex trafficking abuses across the country. Servidão will offer Brazilians a masterfully crafted portrait of the experiences of those our law enforcement partners work to bring freedom to every day.

Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Interview

As part of our partnership, The Exodus Road also held an in-depth interview with the director, Renato, and celebrated human rights advocate and journalist, Leonardo Sakamoto.

Renato is an awarded documentary filmmaker who is well-known in Brazil for the movies Pureza (2022) and Atlântico Negro – Na Rota dos Orixás (1998). As a filmmaker and artist, he has committed himself to telling stories that promote compassion and justice for those who are exploited in his country.

Leonardo is the CEO of Repórter Brasil, and has spent his career deeply committed to human rights work. His devotion to exposing and fighting labor trafficking within Brazil earned him recognition as a United States Trafficking in Persons Hero (class of 2017).

In our conversation, Renato and Leonardo gave us a deeper understanding of Servidão’s heartbeat.