New Documentary Cinema in Brazil

Catalog description

How does documentary film represent reality? Not, certainly, as a transparent window, but as a complex form that may include elements of staging and fiction. In Brazil (as elsewhere), the last thirty years have seen a surge in documentary filmmaking and critical thinking about this kind of film, which have reached a larger and more enthusiastic audience than ever before. This course examines a selection of these Brazilian films from the 1990s to the present (with brief retrospectives to earlier films). Throughout the course, we will address the tension that documentary films invite and foster: the films as aesthetic constructs and as presentations of historical experiences and social issues. We will explore topics such as: the uses of fact and fiction and the multiple ways in which documentary film goes beyond offering realistic versions of preexistent realities; ethical concerns about the respectful use of other people's images and words; the scope of its political impact; the construction of layered and multi-faceted images of Brazil. Readings concern these and other aspects of documentary films.