A 20-minute weapon with a name only Bahia remembers.
Deformed form by which the word "beast" (medieval weapon) is pronounced in the north of the Brazilian state of Bahia and was still present in the cultural memory of the region.
Direction
Muniz treats a word like a crime scene — methodical, reverent.
Sound
Othon Bastos's narration haunts like a last witness testifying.
Director
Sérgio Muniz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'besta' was a medieval crossbow; its Bahian deformation 'beste' represents how colonized peoples weaponized and transformed imposed tools. Sérgio Muniz was part of Brazil's militant documentary movement, filming disappearing cultures before military censorship erased them.
Othon Bastos — one of Brazil's greatest actors — rarely narrated documentaries; his participation signals how seriously the artistic class took cultural preservation in 1970.
BR
