Educational Samba: The Brasilia Film Festival Faces the Challenges of Contemporary Filmmaking

The FIPRESCI jury, meeting for the first time in Brasilia for the 58th Festival of Brazilian Cinema, focused all its attention on the Caleidoscópio section. Its presence was all the more significant given that this was an anniversary edition, celebrating 60 years of the festival. The jury also participated in two events with the public. The first, on Tuesday, September 16th, took the form of a roundtable discussion on current global trends in cinema and criticism. In front of a large audience, the three FIPRESCI speakers shared their views on a wide range of issues, highlighting in particular the dangers posed by the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence in journalism and criticism, but also other phenomena such as the necessity of moving beyond the issues of “genre,” through the many forms of hybridization evident in most innovative audiovisual works today. The importance of image and sound education was also discussed, which is essential in the fight we must wage to reclaim time, particularly among young audiences who are now accustomed to extreme brevity and fragmented editing through social media. In addition to this “international panel,” I gave a masterclass on Friday, September 19th, on the concept of criticism, focusing on film criticism and its challenges, based, among other things, on the French experience and a discussion of the links between criticism and artistic creation.

Of course, the three members of the FIPRESCI jury insisted on presenting the award to the winning film in the Caleidoscópio selection themselves. This selection consisted of five films whose “aesthetic and narrative qualities defied the conventions of film genres,” often falling somewhere between fiction and documentary. In a highly original move, they were produced in five different Brazilian states and by experienced filmmakers. Another distinctive feature of this selection was that it evoked artistic creation more or less directly and in a kind of “mise en abyme,” with the various films referring to theater (Palco Cama by Jura Capela), dance (Atravessa minha carne by Marcela Borela), animated film (Nimuendajú by Tania Anaya), and cinema itself (Nosferatu by Cristiano Burlan).

While all the feature films screened were worthy of the utmost interest, the FIPRESCI jury chose Uma baleia pode ser dilacerada como uma escola de samba by Marina Meliande and Felipe M. Bragança, whose title encapsulates both its narrative and symbolic significance. This fable is rich in colorful imagery and enchanting sounds, depicting traditional Rio de Janeiro, whose cinematic history and aesthetic challenges are reappropriated by the filmmakers. It is also a romantic fiction beautifully interpreted by actors brimming with sensuality. But it is mostly an exciting experimental adventure initiated by several visual artists and musicians from Rio. The film also has a strong social and educational dimension, as the closure of the samba school (whose title sums up the tragic issues at stake) resonates with many of the concerns of our time. More than ever, cinema shows us that the healing of our world comes through education.

Thierry Méranger
Edited by Robert Horton
©FIPRESCI 2025