Bebê Pagão

Bebê Pagão, released on April 22, 2025, is a Portuguese-language documentary rooted in the oral traditions of the Cariri region, a cultural zone straddling the states of Paraíba and Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil. The film collects firsthand accounts and inherited stories from people in the region who have witnessed or been told of the "pagan baby" — a term for infants who died before receiving baptism and were, by longstanding local custom, buried near crossroads and gateways rather than in consecrated ground. The practice reflects a theological preoccupation that was once widespread in the region: without baptism, a child's soul was considered to exist in an ambiguous spiritual state. The documentary also records the improvised responses that tradition prescribed for those who later heard the cries of these souls — informal baptism rites performed at the burial sites to help guide the child's spirit toward heaven.