Professional and personal strategies of documentary filmmakers in Brazil: the case of the State of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

Anne-Marie Autissier

doi:10.18192/clg-cgl.v7i1-2.5922

Abstract

   Between 2012 and 2019, this qualitative sociological research was part of a documentary "boom" moment in Brazil, in terms of production and international recognition. Faced with a bottleneck in terms of their distribution, a growing number of festivals have opened up for documentaries, not counting the historical festival "É tudo Verdade" (São Paulo). This period also corresponds to a time when attempts at policies in favor of documentary films were made by the Federation and the Ministry of Culture (MinC) – public channel TV Brasil, TV Cultura, Doc.TV... These various advances have allowed the expression of a "black" cinema (Joel Zito Araujo), LGBT concerns (Karla Holanda), women’s rights (Helena Solberg and Susanna Lira) and the possibility for indigenous people to seize digital tools to reflect their own realities (Vincent Carelli, Video nas aldeias). Thus, while the Brazilian authorities were carrying out unfinished policies facing the weight of the private oligopolistic sector, it was interesting to analyze how documentary filmmakers developed their professional strategies. From this perspective, fourteen directors were the subject of semi-structured interviews in the state of Rio de Janeiro and three in Minas Gerais. In addition, producers and festival managers were also contacted. But the arrival of the Bolsonaro government caused a real rift. Against a backdrop of cultural war, fake news aimed at discrediting artistic circles, the takeover of the National Cinema Agency (ANCINE) and the abandonment of the São Paulo film library, cuts from major corporate sponsors, and beyond, Brazilian documentary filmmakers have found themselves strangers in their own country.  

Highlights

The qualitative survey, the results of which are described below, was carried out between 2012 and 2019
Faced with a bottleneck in terms of their distribution, a growing number of festivals have opened up for documentaries, not counting the historical festival "É tudo Verdade" (São Paulo). This period corresponds to a time when attempts at policies in favor of documentary films were made by the Federation and the Ministry of Culture (MinC) – public channel TV Brasil, TV Cultura, Doc.TV
While the Brazilian authorities were carrying out unfinished policies facing the weight of the private oligopolistic sector, it was interesting to analyze how documentary filmmakers developed their professional strategies

Summary

Introduction

The qualitative survey, the results of which are described below, was carried out between 2012 and 2019. In Rio de Janeiro, he took free courses as an auditor and joined the International School of Cinema and Television of San Antonio de Los Baños (Cuba) He majored at the Baden-Wurtenberg Film Academy (Germany) in 2004-2005, and in December 2005, he returned to Brazil. Since 2008, she has been living in Rio de Janeiro, where she completed a PhD at Federal Fluminense University, developing research on Brazilian documentary (DocTV: independent production on television), under the guidance of Professor Tunico Amancio. In 2012, Mariana Ferraz Musse studied communications as part of a master’s in Documentary and Society at the Higher School of Cinema and Audiovisual, ESCAC in Barcelona (Spain) She completed her master's degree at the Federal University of Juiz da Fora, with a dissertation devoted to Brazilian documentary, which we have had the pleasure of quoting.

Funding and management strategies

Findings

Conclusion