ABSTRACT

The volume of audio-visual material being made in Brazil annually has risen exponentially. By 2018 over 40% of films put forward to the national selection process to choose Brazil’s entry for the Oscar Best Foreign Film 2019 were directed by women. Returning to the documentary, one might think that the lack of voiceover and minimal intertitles with explanations and names and roles of participants means that the film makes no concessions to those who have not been following Brazilian politics. In March 2015 five female filmmakers based in the state of Pernambuco organised a mini-festival of films made by women. According to the organisers, the purpose of the festival was both to give women filmmakers for the first time in Pernambuco the opportunity to have their films discussed, and to contribute towards audience-building: the setting, once again the prestigious Cinema da Fundacao in Recife, seemed ideal for both.