Brazil: Tiradentes festival debates cinema on new bases

The Tiradentes Film Festival, responsible for annually opening the Brazilian audiovisual calendar, kicks off tonight (20) an edition that marks the return of the face-to-face model, after two online editions as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The physical reunion with the audience will also be an opportunity to discuss the current scenario of national cinema and point out ways forward. The diagnosis carried out by the curatorship points to a fragile sector, which demands a "collective effort to build new bases and reinforce resistant structures".

“On the one hand, an economic crisis; on the other, a federal political project to attempt to demobilize, neutralize and cut public policies. Between one thing and another, the pandemic. who sought alternatives to their survival, who tried not to give up their previous conquests, even if insufficient or threatened", says the text signed by curators Francis Vogner, Camila Vieira and Lila Foster.

Organized by Universo Produção since 1998, Mostra de Tiradentes now reaches its 26th edition in the historic city of Tiradentes, in the state of Minas Gerais. Its creation was conceived with the objective of collaborating with the so-called "recovery cinema", an expression used in historiography to refer to the revival of national production, which took place in the second half of the 1990s.

With the privilege of being the first event on the annual Brazilian audiovisual calendar, its discussions end up influencing other festivals throughout the year.

In this edition, 134 films will be shown, including previews and thematic exhibitions. For the organizers, this amount shows the strength of contemporary Brazilian cinematography even in a moment of crisis in the sector. Titles come from 19 states. The program also includes workshops, artistic presentations, concerts and book launches. The activities end on the 28th of January.