São Paulo – Arab immigration is so present in the daily life of Brazilians that it even has participation in the history of one of the great myths of the country, that of cangaceiro Lampião. A cangaceiro is a social bandit typical of the northeast of Brazil in the nineteenth century and the early 20th century. It was a Lebanese who filmed Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, Lampião’s full name, who fought against the large landowners of Brazil early last century. The moviemaker is called Benjamin Abrahão Botto, and, despite not being a professional, between 1935 and 1937, he shot footage of the brigand and his band, in the hinterland in northeastern Brazil.
What was a Lebanese immigrant doing in the hinterland of northeastern Brazil following the feared Lampião? Not even the researchers know that answer for sure. According to writer Antonio Amaury Corrêa de Araujo, who has published eleven books about Lampião, it is possible to deduce that the motivation was economic. “Two important factors are considered. First, Lampião was already a legend and Benjamin wanted the challenge of interviewing and photographing a legend. Second, he was being paid, and well paid,” said journalist Artur Aymoré, author of book “O Outro Olho de Lampião – A imprensa e o cangaceiro” (The Other Eye of Lampião – Press and the cangaceiro), published this year.
It is necessary to recall that Benjamin arrived from Lebanon at a very young age at a time in which his country was under the Ottoman Empire. As was the case with many Arabs, Benjamin arrived in Brazil named Jamil Ibrahim, and adopted another name, Benjamin Abrahão Botto, upon arrival, explained Araujo. Historic records show that he worked as a peddler and then had a dry goods store. His destiny, however, started turning in the direction of Lampião when he went to work as a secretary to Priest Cícero. Araujo recalls that Benjamin was introduced to the cangaceiro by Priest Cícero, in 1926, in Juazeiro, Ceará.
The filming of the gang began after the death of the preacher. “A German company started a small film production agency in Fortaleza (Ceará), called AbbaFilmes. AbbaFilmes got in contact with Benjamin and asked whether he would like to face the challenge. It was a challenge as the cangaceiro was sought by the police in seven states,” said journalist Aymoré. Benjamin managed to get in contact with the gang and then had access to simulations of attacks by the cangaceiros. “Benjamin was an extremely sociable person, caring and managed to convince Lampião that the documentary would strengthen his image as a fearless fighter for social justice,” said Aymoré.
The footage, however, did not generate immediate results. "The film was shown once in Fortaleza, but during the showing, the police invaded the cinema and those present did not see the entire movie. The police impounded the film and it was forgotten there, at a Federal Police warehouse, for 25 years”, pointed out Aymoré. Years later, moviemakers managed to rescue the material and extract over 15 minutes from it. The scenes, in fact, are in movie "Baile Perfumado" (Scented Ball), by directors Lírio Ferreira and Paulo Caldas, produced about Benjamin in the 1990s.
But how about Benjamin, what happened to him after the footage was shot? His life, in fact, was very short after Lampião. He was murdered a few months later. And if there is much confusion regarding the life of Benjamin Abrahão Botto, there is more regarding his death. Writer Araujo even spoke to sheriff Enésio Mariano, who was in the house next-door to the one in which Benjamin was killed.
“His death was quite confusing. What is known is that he had a relationship with the wife of a handicapped shoemaker. But Benjamin had also filmed Lampião alongside important people who did business with Lampião, and I think that was the cause of his death. As he had a relationship with this woman, I do not know to what extent they placed in the shoemaker’s head that he had to have Benjamin killed. The butcher’s son-in-law and son murdered Benjamin, stabbing him 42 times,” said Araujo.
Writer Aymoré also doubts the version of passion crime and says he believes that it is more probable that it was the police itself that committed the crime. "The Federal government was very concerned with capturing Lampião. They (the police) considered it depreciation, a foreign citizen managing to film Lampião and the police not managing to get close to him,” said the journalist and writer.
Of other details of Benjamin’s life, there are few historic records. He probably came from Zahleh, said Araujo. There is also information about his being very friendly and even a womanizer. Some say he was single, others that he was married and even had a son. “From what it seems, he had true talent for cinema, passion for it, and wanted to do it with great effort, he had the dream of being a movie director. This version, in fact, was shown in Baile Perfumado", says Aymoré.
*Translated by Mark Ament
