National documentary features episode about Márcia Rolon, founder of the institution

“Art unites everything”; that is how former dancer from Mato Grosso do Sul, Márcia Rolon, describes her drive to begin creating the Instituto Moinho Cultural, one of the state’s most important socio-educational institutions, during her participation in the documentary series “Meu, Seu, Nosso” (“Mine, Yours, Ours”), which shows the perspective and account of people who transformed lives by creating social projects with great impact on their communities.

The documentary sheds light on the stories of seven figures from various parts of Brazil, and invites specialists from different fields to reflect on what moves people to devote their time and their lives to those in need. Rolon represents the Midwest, Mato Grosso do Sul and its borders by showing a bit of the giant that is Moinho Cultural, during her special episode.

The series was conceived by the Abílio Diniz family, created by Marcos Prado, who also serves as overall director and shares the direction of the episodes with João Jardim, produced by Zazen Produções and Ana Maria Diniz. The episode in which Márcia Rolon is the protagonist will be released this week on the Aquarius streaming platform.

The newspaper O Estado had exclusive access to the episode, which shows a bit about the founder’s family, her interest in art from birth, and how, while living on the border, she saw a gap between Brazil and Bolivia that could be filled through art.

Photo: publicity

“It’s no use giving out a basic food basket, you need to bring a sparkle to that person’s eyes”, says Márcia, right at the start. Recalling her beginnings in dance, family life alongside her parents, and her first marriage surrounded by upheavals, one cannot help but be moved by Márcia.

After a stint away from the state and even from the country, to specialize in her dance, Márcia returns to Corumbá and reunites with Angelo Rabelo. There, the partnership begins that would give rise to Moinho Cultural. From 2000 to 2007, the two created in Corumbá the Mostra de Dança (Dance Showcase), an event that brought artists from around the world for free performances at Praça Generoso Ponce. But performances alone were not enough for a population lacking in culture, which called on Márcia to create a dance academy, where children from the region could learn and be on stage.

“I realized that no project here in Brazil talked about two things that our project had at its core: music and dance together, the dream of having an orchestra and a dance company. And no one talked about the border”, Márcia recalled during the documentary.

The Moinho

The project began its activities initially serving 180 children at social risk, at the Moinho-Corumbaense, a former factory in Corumbá’s port area, which was being revitalized at the time.

The institution operates with an eight-year course of instruction: in the first three years, participants go through various artistic languages, such as dance and music, and even technology. After that, they choose where they will specialize to continue learning during the remaining five years.

Movingly, the documentary also features testimonials from dancers Maria Eduarda Toledo, Aline Espirito Santo and Núbia dos Santos. And, movingly, Márcia recounts her gains, pains and frustrations, even regarding the public policies surrounding Moinho’s history.

Photo: publicity

In July of this year, the institution was declared a Pontão Cultural de Mato Grosso do Sul (Cultural Anchor Point of Mato Grosso do Sul) by the Ministry of Culture. The initiative is part of the Plano Nacional de Cultura Viva (National Living Culture Plan), and the institution had already been one of the culture points spread across the country since 2004. Now, Moinho Cultural, under the “Unindo Pontos” (Uniting Points) strand, will work in partnership with Grupo Vozes Especiais, Sociedade Comunitária Gibiteca, Fundação Nelito Câmara, Circo do Mato and Grupo TEZ.

“Moinho Cultural reached a significant milestone by becoming the first Pontão de Cultura of Mato Grosso do Sul. We have played a key role in spreading artistic expression and encouraging cultural development, and now, as a Pontão de Cultura, we will be able to encourage other institutions to do the same”, said the founder. For 20 years, the Instituto Moinho Cultural Sul Americano has been transforming lives. During this period, more than 23 thousand children and adolescents in situations of vulnerability and social risk have been directly benefited with activities offered daily outside regular school hours, and 60 thousand indirectly. Over all these years, more than 58 thousand welfare services have been provided. Classes are offered in ballet and classical music, contemporary dance, computer skills, school support, a Group for Coexistence and Bond Strengthening, among others. Moinho also benefits children and young people from the municipality of Ladário and from the Bolivian towns of Puerto Suárez and Puerto Quijarro, enabling an important cultural exchange.

The series

Márcia Rolon, former dancer from Mato Grosso do Sul; Neide Suruí, indigenous rights advocate from Rondônia; Bismarck Araújo, photographer from inland Bahia; Lemaestro, rapper and skater from São Paulo’s East Zone; Ana Paula Mucunã, leader in a settlement in Rio Grande do Norte; Vera Cordeiro, doctor in Rio de Janeiro; and chef David Hertz, also from Rio, are the protagonists of each episode.

Invited by Ana Maria Diniz to bring the project to life, the award-winning photographer, director and producer Marcos Prado — who, among other films, directed Estamira (2004), Paraísos Artificiais (2012) and Macabro (2020), and produced Os Carvoeiros (1999), Bus 174 (2002), Elite Squad (2007) and Elite Squad 2 (2010) — chose the series format and invited director João Jardim to share the direction of the episodes.

“At the same time that we went after these figures, we thought it was important to raise this discussion about what makes human beings have empathy, care about others, whether that is innate or not. And, on the other hand, to try to understand why there still isn’t a consolidated culture of philanthropy in the country, which ranks only 89th in the world ranking”, Marcos concludes.

By Carolina Rampi