Directed by Eduardo Escorel, O Tempo e o Lugar ("The Time and the Place") is a documentary that portrays activist Genivaldo Vieira da Silva. Inspired by three encounters between filmmaker and subject -- in 1996, 2005, and 2007 (with footage from the last two encounters resulting in the final version of the film) -- Genivaldo tells of his life that has been framed by fighting for agrarian reform in the poor, semi-arid region of the Northeast, specifically his home state of Alagoas.

What makes Genivaldo a character worth watching is his involvement in some of the defining social movements in Brazil and his choices to abandon them for a more personal type of politics. Genivaldo was a regional leader of the Landless Workers Movement, which works principally by identifying land that does not fulfill its "social function" and occupying it by force. He also received training from the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla organization from Peru, before starting extensive work with the Pastoral da Terra, a leftist branch of the Catholic Church formed during the 1970s as a response to the military dictatorship. He even ran for mayor of his hometown as a candidate of the Workers' Party (PT), a political party that was co-founded by current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula).

In some ways, Genivaldo and Lula share similar backgrounds, as they both head-strong men from humble backgrounds that started as leaders of leftist movements. Where Genivaldo's life starts to differ from Lula's is his growing disillusionment with political power, which he comes to believe "changes nothing." He is still involved with agrarian reform but on his own terms, preferring no longer to participate in the huge organizations that influenced his past.

Genivaldo has some interesting stories to tell and his opinions are informative of broader social contexts. Yet I can't help but think that even with Genivaldo's history, O Tempo e o Lugar is not very compelling as a film. The people Escorel chose to interview are expected but not exactly inspired; he dutifully shows each of Genivaldo's family members but not all of them have something to say before the camera. Beyond serving as a lesson of Genivaldo's life seen through his own eyes and a glimpse of political life in Alagoas, I'm not sure I took much more from watching O Tempo e o Lugar.