A documentary is always a learning process for its director, who gains a detailed knowledge of the subject matter. “Abigail”, screened at Cannes in 2016, intelligently elevates this idea to a very literal visual level. The opening sequence leads us from an abandoned garden into the house of Abigail Lopes, a woman who fought for the peaceful co-existence of indians and non-indians. It is simultaneously a very cinematic and epistemological image which characterises the whole learning process – moving from the exterior to the interior. Abigail Lopes with her partner, the renowned Sertanista, Francisco Meireles, lived for eight years among the Xavante Indians of Serra do Roncador (Mato Grosso). Camera in hand, the makers of the documentary move progressively around the decrepit house, almost always in the dark, literally groping from door to door, obstacle to obstacle. The house’s labyrinthine form evokes the magical, mystical and spiritual dimension of Abigail, in particular the religion of candomble – evident in the plethora of objects of worship and memorabilia inside this improvised temple. The documentary record, alternating with valuable archive footage of the Xavante in the 1940s, although predominant, is coloured by a fictional element: the woman (Abigail herself?) who is pursued cat and mouse by the camera. The closer we get to her, the further she continues to escape – perhaps similar to the process of knowledge acquisition. (FN)