Reavivamento de memórias: o papel do documentário ‘Boate kiss:a tragédia de Santa Maria’ na retomada da memória coletiva

Abstract

The fire that occurred on 27 January, 2013 at Boate Kiss left a permanent mark on the history of more than 600 survivors, the family and friends of the 242 fatal victims of what became known as the Santa Maria tragedy. After completing ten years of the search for justice and the maintenance of memory by the collectives created, the Kiss case is once again one of the main topics on digital social networks, after the launch of two audiovisual productions, in particular the documentary: “Boate Kiss: A tragédia de Santa Maria” (GLOBOPLAY, 2023). In front of this, the present work has the objective to understand the role of documentary in the recovery of collective memory. For this, the problem of this search was: How did the documentary ‘Boate Kiss: A tragédia de Santa Maria’ act in reviving collective memory? In order to answer this question, an association of methodological techniques was structured: Bibliographic research (MACEDO, 1995) to select and organize concepts necessary for the movement of the study; Documentary research (KRIPKA et. al., 2015), which was used as a tool to search for documents related to the Kiss case on the website of the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul, and to map objects and reports about the documentary that circulated on Santa Maria’s online communication portals between 01/18/2023 and 02/02/2023; Covert and non-participatory research (JOHSON, 2010), which allowed the identification of user perceptions regarding 8 publications that together presented 72 comments about the documentary on Instagram, (considering the same period of analysis); And in-depth, semi-structured interviews (DUARTE, 2005) with survivors, friends and family of victims, as well as Journalist Marcelo Canellas, Director of the documentary ‘Boate Kiss: A tragédia de Santa Maria’ and current president of the Association of family members of victims and survivors of the Santa Maria tragedy. Based on the reports presented by the interviewees and together with other analyses, it became possible to understand how the documentary acted as a memory revival device, as it transcends the informative scope by reaching an emotional sphere between the spectators and actors directly involved in the event. Playing a crucial role in reviving narratives about the tragedy, it stimulated reflections on the case in the media and in other spaces on the internet. Although, the ambiguity that surrounds collective memory over time can distance emotions and attention from the case, that’s why production is positioned as a tool for circulating memory, leaving other tools to build it.