Brazil: “Echoes of 1922” exhibition highlights the modernism influence in national cinema

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With tickets at popular prices (R$10 – US$2), the “Echoes of 1922 – Modernism in Brazilian Cinema” exhibit will open tomorrow, March 10, at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro (CCBB Rio). It will be open to the public until April 11.

It is the most extensive film retrospective ever made on the theme, bringing together about 50 films, among features, medium-length, and short films, covering the period from 1922 to 2021, from Roraima State, in the North of Brazil, to Paraná State, in the South. There is also a free parallel program with lectures, debate tables, and musical sessions. There will be a translation in hand sign. The complete schedule of the show can be accessed here.

Curator Aïcha Barat said that although cinema was not part of the Week of Modern Art in 1922, the ideals of that avant-garde moment influenced everything done in national cinema afterwards. “The Week left a legacy in culture and, consequently, in cinema,” she said. The film “Limite” (1931), by Mário Peixoto, considered one of the milestones of Brazilian avant-garde cinema, opens the event this Thursday, in a free screening with musical accompaniment by Tomás Improta, pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher.

The so-called Cinema Novo is one of the direct heirs of modernism, said the curator. Famous films from that period will be shown in the exhibition, such as Terra em Transe (Glauber Rocha, 1967), Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (Glauber Rocha, 1964), Macunaíma (Joaquim de Andrade, 1969), Como era Gostoso o meu Francês (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, 1971), as well as films from national cinema that came later: Ladrões de cinema (Fernando Coni Campos, 1977), Mato eles? (Sergio Bianchi, 1983), and Tudo é Brasil (Rogério Sganzerla, 1997), for example. “It is a show that brings the classics and tries to bring a more contemporary look to review some issues,” said Aïcha.

INTELLECTUALITY

The chosen works are marked by the thought of São Paulo intellectuals from the Week of 22, such as Oswald de Andrade and Mário de Andrade, besides contemporary indigenous thinkers and artists, among them Jaider Esbell and Denilson Baniwa.

The exhibition also includes a selection of contemporary films that deal with themes announced by the modernist production from indigenous, black, and peripheral perspectives. Branco sai, preto fica (Adirley Queirós, 2012), Grin (Isael Maxakali Rolney Freitas and Sueli Maxakali, 2016), Travessia (Safira Moreira, 2017), Por onde anda Makunaíma? (Rodrigo Séllos, 2020) and Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: this land is ours! (Carolina Canguçu, Isael Maxakali, Roberto Romero and Sueli Maxakali, 2020) will be accompanied by a selection of “internet films”, available on social media and the event’s website. “We tried to bring a plurality of perspectives,” commented Aïcha.

Echoes of 1922 also includes a selection of “Oswaldian” films by Rogério Sganzerla and Júlio Bressane. Examples are the productions Sem essa, Aranha (Rogério Sganzerla, 1978), Tabu (Júlio Bressane, 1982), Miramar (Júlio Bressane, 1997) and Tudo é Brasil (Rogério Sganzerla, 1997), besides the short films Perigo Negro (Rogério Sganzerla,1992), Quem seria o feliz conviva de Isadora Duncan? (Júlio Bressane, 1992), and Uma noite com Oswald (Inácio Zatz and Ricardo Dias, 1992), the latter screened in 35mm.

The filmmaker Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, a central figure in the relationship between modernism and Brazilian cinema, will also be highlighted in the exhibition. Besides the screening of the feature films Macunaíma (1969) and O homem do pau-brasil (1980), and the short films O mestre de Apipucos (1959) and O poeta do Castelo (1959), all dedicated to the work and ideas of Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, Gilberto Freyre, and Manuel Bandeira, respectively, there will also be a screening of the medium-length film O Aleijadinho (1978).

The show’s visual identity is based on the work Ficções coloniais (ou finjam que não estou aqui!), by the indigenous artist Denilson Baniwa. Conceived in 2021, this series of collages can be seen in the show’s book catalog pages, accompanied by a text by the author. With this work, Baniwa rehearses a right to respond to the indigenous imaginary forged by white photographers and filmmakers throughout history.

BOOK CATALOG

The Ecos of 1922 book catalog includes previously unpublished texts by Ruy Gardnier, Lorraine Mendes, Marília Rothier, Aline Leal, Tainá Cavalieri, Mateus Sanches, and Juliano Gomes, as well as previously published texts by Jaider Esbell, Denilson Baniwa, Paulo Antonio Paranaguá, Pedro Duarte, Julierme Morais, Glauber Rocha, and Paulo Emílio Salles Gomes. It also brings Oswald de Andrade’s Modernist Manifestos, a text by Mário de Andrade about the movement, and a selection of poems, artwork, and advertisements published in the 1920s modernist magazines Klaxon and Antropofagia.

Aïcha Barat informed that the online version of the catalog is available for free download on Ecos’ website and at https://ccbb.com.br/. Spectators who wish to buy the printed version can exchange four tickets for one catalog during the event. There will be 100 printed copies available.

With information from Agência Brasil