It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing, on August 21, 2026, of anthropologist, filmmaker, and indigenous studies scholar André Luís Lopes Neves. André studied Social Sciences at FFLCH-USP and completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology at USP, under the guidance of Renato Sztutman.
Since 2019, he has been a member of the Ijã Mytyli Collective for Manoki and Mỹky Cinema. With the collective, he made many films, many of which won awards in Brazil and abroad. His research with the Manoki and Myky peoples of northwestern Mato Grosso dates back to 2008, when he worked at the NGO OPAN (Operação Amazônia Nativa). Since then, she has consistently worked with them, whether through collaborative filmmaking or by supporting their struggles for land and rights. In 2011, she began offering audiovisual workshops to various Indigenous peoples, filming, editing, and directing videos—always in a collaborative manner. In 2023, he defended his doctoral dissertation, *Ijã Mytyly: The Manoki and the Myky on Their New Paths—Audiovisual Stories*, which was honored in 2024 with the USP Innovation Award and published in 2025.
His films, made with the Collective and other partners, are available on the website of the Laboratory of Image and Sound in Anthropology (LISA-USP). André also left his collection of footage, photos, and files featuring Manoki and Myky at LISA, containing more than 70 hours of video and 40 analog photos. He proposed digitizing the material to create a shared archive with the people who were the protagonists and co-authors of the images. He was also editing a new film at LISA with Typju Myky, a collaborator on some of his works. He worked tirelessly even during a difficult treatment for a serious illness, which he faced with extreme courage.
For several years, André signed his emails “Cine Indígena Comparido” and used his name in the Manoki language, Tupxi, before the @usp.br address and to credit the films he made with the Ijã Mytyli Collective. Although he left us so soon, at the age of 43, André Tupxi leaves a remarkable legacy for anthropology and cinema—fields he knew so well how to bring into dialogue. Few took the idea of a shared anthropology so seriously, making collaboration with his Indigenous friends—Myky and Manoki, but also Aparai and Wayana, and so many others—the driving force behind his work and his life.
University of São Paulo
Department of Anthropology (DA-USP)
Graduate Program in Social Anthropology (PPGAS-USP)
Laboratory of Image and Sound in Anthropology (LISA-USP)
Center for Amerindian Studies (CEstA-USP)
Wake for André Luís Lopes Neves
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – August 22 (Saturday)
Room 3
Cremation ceremony at 3:00 p.m.
Memorial Ecumenical Necropolis Cemetery
Av. Dr. Nilo Peçanha, 50 - Marapé, Santos - SP, 11070-908