Glauber Rocha

Glauber Rocha was a Brazilian film director and writer, who was one of the most influential figures of the Cinema Novo movement in the 1960s and 1970s. He was known for his radical and innovative style, which combined social criticism, political activism, and artistic experimentation. He directed and wrote several films that are considered classics of Brazilian cinema, such as Black God, White Devil (1964), Entranced Earth (1967), and Antonio das Mortes (1969). He also wrote essays and manifestos on cinema, culture, and politics, such as The Aesthetics of Hunger (1965) and The Aesthetics of Dream (1971). Rocha was born in Vitória da Conquista, a small town in the state of Bahia, in 1939. He was the son of a schoolteacher and a civil servant, who encouraged his interest in arts and literature. He started to write poems and stories at an early age, and also developed a passion for cinema. He moved to Salvador, the capital of Bahia, in 1954, where he attended high school and joined a film club. He also worked as a journalist and film critic for local newspapers and magazines. He made his first short film, The Pátio, in 1959, with the help of his friends. ¹² In 1960, Rocha moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he became involved with the Cinema Novo movement, a group of young filmmakers who wanted to create a new, authentic, and original Brazilian cinema, inspired by the Italian neorealism, the French New Wave, and the Third Cinema. Rocha's first feature film, Barravento, was released in 1962, and won the Best First Work award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film tells the story of a fishing community in Bahia, where a young man tries to break the religious and economic oppression imposed by the local elites. ¹² Rocha's next film, Black God, White Devil, was released in 1964, and was a major success both in Brazil and abroad. The film is based on a novel by Jorge Amado, and depicts the violence and misery of the Brazilian hinterland in the 1940s, where a poor peasant couple joins a messianic movement led by a charismatic preacher, and later a band of cangaceiros (outlaws). The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and is considered one of the masterpieces of Cinema Novo. ¹² In 1967, Rocha directed Entranced Earth, a political allegory that portrays the conflicts and contradictions of Latin America in the context of the Cold War. The film follows a journalist who travels to a fictional country, Eldorado, where he witnesses a coup d'état and the rise of a populist dictator. The film was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Grand Prix at the Locarno Film Festival. ¹² In 1969, Rocha completed his trilogy of films about the Brazilian reality with Antonio das Mortes, a sequel to Black God, White Devil. The film focuses on the character of Antonio, a former cangaceiro hunter who is hired by the government to kill a new group of outlaws, but ends up joining them in their fight against the oppression. The film won the Best Director award at Cannes, and was praised by critics and audiences. ¹² In the 1970s, Rocha left Brazil and lived in exile in several countries, such as Cuba, Chile, Portugal, France, and Italy. He continued to make films, such as The Lion Has Seven Heads (1970), a political satire set in Africa; Cancer (1972), a experimental film about the Brazilian urban violence; Claro (1975), a documentary about Rome; and The Age of the Earth (1980), a visionary and controversial film about the history and destiny of Brazil. He also participated in collective projects, such as The ABC of Love (1967), an anthology film made with Eduardo de Gregorio and Rodolfo Kuhn; and The New Latin American Cinema (1967), a documentary made with Julio García Espinosa and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. ¹² Rocha died in Rio de Janeiro in 1981, at the age of 42, from a lung infection. He left behind a legacy of films that are considered among the most important and influential in the history of Brazilian and world cinema. He also influenced many filmmakers, such as Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, Ruy Guerra, and Fernando Meirelles. He was posthumously honored with several awards and tributes, such as the Glauber Rocha Award at the Montreal World Film Festival, the Glauber Rocha Film Festival in Bahia, and the Glauber Rocha Cinema School in Cuba. ¹²