Regarded as Brazil’s most significant cultural tradition and way of expression, the dance samba, originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during the 19th Century. 

Susanna Lira‘s documentary Damas Do Samba (Samba Ladies), which will have its world premiere at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival on October 4, provides a brief tour through the history of women in the world of this revolutionary and influential dance form; honoring and recognizing their strength and contribution to this vibrant and sensual music genre. 

Here’s more about the film:

Samba Ladies presents women as the driving force that propels the samba and contributes to making it the greatest and most representative Brazilian popular rhythm.

It is impossible to understand the Samba history without stumbling upon a woman’s name. 

Many women turned their own private history into the history of samba itself. Being it in their role as a designer, a singer, a muse, or a Carnival laborer, women enhance their protagonist status, lending to the samba, not only their image but also their enterprising spirit, their creativity and their inspiring nature. 

Through the music and the characters, “Samba Ladies” will reveal samba’s invisible foundation: the resilient ladies that keep up with the tradition of samba. It aims at redeeming the clamorous and fundamental participation of women in the consolidation of samba since its creation covering social and artistic aspects as well as its media exposure.

Watch the trailer below:

Damas do Samba from Anderson Coutinho on Vimeo.