Description

On January 1, 2017 the world witnessed the third largest massacre in Brazilian prison system history at the Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex (COMPAJ).
During the more than 15 hours of riot, social networks were overrun by videos from
within the complex. Those images were produced by prisoners' cellphones and the prison's CCTV cameras. Pressured by events, on the 6th of the same month, the federal government launched the National Public Security Plan (PNSP). Thus, this presentation addresses two questions: What are the associations established between the COMPAJ massacre and the videos made by prisoners and surveillance cameras? And what are the relationships between this material and the 2017 National Public Security Plan? Based on the theoretical and methodological framework of security visualities, we will look at 7 videos and reflect on: a) audiovisual elements as knowledge production actors; b) how these videos enacted certain “truths” about the COMPAJ killings; c) the invisibility regime emerging from these recordings and; d) the associations and resonances between COMPAJ videos and the PNSP.