Remapping Brazilian Film Culture in the Twenty-​First Century

221 Pages·2020·38.069 MB·English

by  Stephanie Dennison

REMAPPING BRAZILIAN FILM

CULTURE IN THE TWENTY- FIRST
CENTURY
Remapping Brazilian Film Culture in the Twenty-First Century makes a significant con-
tribution not only to debates about Brazilian national cinema, but more generally
about the development of world cinema in the twenty- first century.
This book charts the key features of Brazilian film culture of the first two decades
of the twenty- first century, including: the latest cultural debates within Brazil on film
funding and distribution practices; the impact of diversity politics on the Brazilian
film industry; the reception and circulation of Brazilian films on the international
film festival circuit; and the impact on cultural production of the sharp change
in political direction at national level experienced post-2 016. The principle of
“remapping” here is based on a need to move on from potentially limiting concepts
such as “the national”, which can serve to unduly ghettoise a cinema, film industry
and audience. The book argues that Brazilian film culture should be read as being
part of a globally articulated film culture whose internal workings are necessarily
distinctive and thus deserving of world cinema scholars’ attention.
A blend of industry studies, audience reception and cultural studies, Remapping
Brazilian Film Culture in the Twenty-First Century is a dynamic volume for students
and researchers in film studies, particularly Brazilian, Latin American and world
cinema.
Stephanie Dennison is Professor of Brazilian Studies and directs the Centre for
World Cinemas at the University of Leeds. She has published widely on both world
cinema and Brazilian film: she co-a uthored with Lisa Shaw Popular Cinema in Brazil
(2004) and Brazilian National Cinema (2007).
REMAPPING WORLD CINEMA:

REGIONAL TENSIONS AND
GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS
Series Editors: Rob Stone, Paul Cooke, Stephanie Dennison and Alex Marlow- Mann

Remapping World Cinema: Regional Tensions and Global Transformations rewrites the territory of contemporary
world cinema, revising outdated assumptions of national cinemas, challenging complacent views of hege-
monic film cultures and questioning common ideas of production, distribution and reception. It will remap
established territories such as American, European and Asian cinema and explore new territories that exist
both within and beyond nation-s tates such as regional cinemas and online communities, while also demar-
cating important contexts for global cinema such as festival circuits and the discipline of film studies itself.
This book series is jointly coordinated by B- Film: The Birmingham Centre for Film Studies based at the
University of Birmingham, the Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures at the University of Leeds
and the Centre for Film and Media Research at the University of Kent.
Advisory Board
Michele Aaron Christopher E. Gittings Ian Malcolm Rijsdijk
Tim Bergfelder Catherine Grant María Pilar Rodríguez
Chris Berry Olof Hedling Joanna Rydzewska
William Boddy Mette Hjort Karl Schoonover
William Brown John Horne Deborah Shaw
James Chapman Anikó Imre Marc Silberman
Paolo Cherchi Usai Dina Iordanova Murray Smith
Ian Christie Geoff King Paul Julian Smith
Anne Ciecko Mariana Liz Song Hwee Lim
Timothy Corrigan Gina Marchetti Ann Marie Stock
Virginia Crisp Laura U. Marks Stephen Teo Kian Teck
Sean Cubitt David Martin-J ones Niamh Thornton
Stuart Cunningham Alessandra Meleiro Dolores Tierney
Jonathan Driskell Xavier Mendik Jan Uhde
Rajinder Dudrah Madhuja Mukherjee Marije de Valck
Thomas Elsaesser David Murphy Ravi Vasudevan
Dunja Fehimović Lúcia Nagib Belén Vidal
Rosalind Galt Lydia Papadimitriou Ginette Vincendeau
David Gauntlett Chris Perriam James Walters
Felicity Gee Catherine Portuges Emma Widdis
Jeffrey Geiger Charles Ramírez Berg Vito Zagarrio
Aaron Gerow Jonathan Rayner Yingjin Zhang
Middlebrow Cinema
Edited by Sally Faulkner
The Routledge Companion to World Cinema
Edited by Rob Stone, Paul Cooke, Stephanie Dennison and Alex Marlow- Mann
Cinema Against Doublethink
Ethical Encounters with the Lost Pasts of World History
David Martin- Jones
Remapping Brazilian Film Culture in the Twenty- First Century
Stephanie Dennison
For more information about this series, please visit: https:// www.routledge.com/ Remapping- World-
Cinema/ book- series/ RWC
REMAPPING BRAZILIAN

FILM CULTURE IN
THE TWENTY- FIRST
CENTURY
Stephanie Dennison
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Stephanie Dennison
The right of Stephanie Dennison to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978- 1- 138- 11983- 3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 138- 11992- 5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 315- 65203- 0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
For Anna, my favourite UK- Brazil co- production

CONTENTS

List of figures ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgements xii

Introduction 1

PART I 9
1 Making films in twenty- first- century Brazil 11

2 Engaging with audiences at home and abroad 32

3 Women and film culture in Brazil 57

4 Brazil’s LGBTQ communities and film culture 77

5 Afro- Brazilian filmmaking in the twenty- first century 93

6 Screening the indigenous experience in Brazil 110

PART II 127
7 Cinema and public security: the Elite Squad phenomenon
(2007– 2010) 129
viii Contents
8 Lúcia Murat’s Olhar Estrangeiro (2005) and the representation
of Brazil on foreign screens 152

9 Hope springs from rubbish: Trash (2014) and the garbage
aesthetic 164

10 A cordial view from Brazil’s north- east: Kleber Mendonça
Filho’s Aquarius (2016) 180

Epilogue 195

Index 199
FIGURES

1.1 Assis Chateaubriand introduces television to Brazil. Still from trailer
for Chatô, o rei do Brasil 15
1.2 The four actor- directors in a still from the trailer for Estrada para Ythaca 26
2.1 Tony Ramos and Glória Pires in a still from Se eu fosse você 37
2.2 Ingrid Guimarães in a still from the trailer for De pernas pro ar 38
2.3 Paulo Gustavo cross- dresses in a still from the trailer for Minha mãe é
uma peça 39
2.4 Petrônio Gontijo plays Bishop Macedo in a still from the trailer for
Nada a perder 42
2.5 Argentine- born Alberto Ammann in a still from the trailer for the
Spanish- Brazilian co- production Lope 50
3.1 The maid Val (Regina Casé) foregrounded in the kitchen, with
the mistress Bárbara (Karine Teles) in the dining room. Still from
Que horas ela volta? 62
3.2 A female officer in Rio’s Pacification Police (UPP) laments the low
esteem in which the police are held. A still from Morro dos Prazeres 68
3.3 Promotional poster for O processo 70
4.1 Promotional poster for Mãe só há uma 82
4.2 Wagner Moura as lifeguard in a still from the trailer for Praia do Futuro 85
4.3 Promotional poster for Bixa Travesty 88
5.1 Zózimo Bulbul in close- up. Still from Alma no olho 96
5.2 Edu (Gregório Duvivier) asks his one black classmate Maicon (Sílvio
Guindane) to get him drugs. A still from 5 x favela, agora por nós mesmos 102
5.3 Jerusa (Léa Garcia). A still from the trailer for O dia de Jerusa 104
6.1 Guarani marching to demand land rights. A still from the trailer
for Martírio 117