Just released from prison, Léa returns home to the Brasilia favela of Sol Nascente and joins up with her half-sister Chitara, the fearless leader of an all-female gang that steals and refines oil from underground pipes and sells gasoline to a clandestine network of motorcyclists. Living in constant opposition to Jair Bolsonaro’s fiercely authoritarian and militarized government, Chitara’s women claim the streets for themselves as a declaration of radical political resistance on behalf of ex-cons and the oppressed. An electrifying portrait of Brazil’s dystopian contemporary moment that blends documentary with narrative fiction and genre elements, Dry Ground Burning reunites filmmakers Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós (Once There Was Brasilia) to offer a unique vision of the country’s possible future.

A politically incendiary ethnographic sci-fi…. In Dry Ground Burning, the future isn’t just female: it is Black, lesbian, profoundly matriarchal. (Ela Bittencourt, Sight and Sound)

A furious, queer, boisterous gangster epic that offers a view of the country from the outskirts and turns oppression into resistance. (The Film Stage)

An astonishing work of survival and resilience... packs a pulpy punch, yet is also rooted in an urgent political reality. (The Guardian)

A meticulous blend of fact and fiction... layered with suggestions of Westerns, gangster films, and even science fiction, all rooted in the real contemporary. (Hyperallergic)