Brazil and the Lusophone Diaspora: Film Series and Exhibit Events at Indiana University

Two major events showcasing Brazilian and Lusophone history and culture are taking place at Indiana University-Bloomington during the Spring 2012 semester.

The “Cinema Maldito” Film Series runs February 23-24 at the Indiana University Cinema.  The marginal, or underground, film movement was a vibrant example of the independent, auteur cinema that emerged in Brazil in the late 1960s. The series was programmed by Richard Peña, director of the New York Film Festival.  For programming, go to the Indiana University Cinema site: http://www.cinema.indiana.edu/?post_type=series&p=2125)

The “Portuguese-Speaking Diaspora” exhibition at the Lilly Library was curated by Professor Darlene Sadlier, Director of the Portuguese Program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.  The current exhibition features rare and first editions of canonical works of Brazilian and Portuguese history and literature, the majority belonging to the Lilly’s Charles R. Boxer collection.  João de Barros’ Asia (1552), Padre António Vieira’s Sermam (1646), and the first edition of Garcia de Orta’s Colóquio (1563), which includes the first-ever published poem by Luís de Camões, are a few of the Lusophone treasures on display.  The exhibit covers work representing the broad boundaries of the Lusophone world from Brazil to Africa to East Asia.

In 1972, the Lilly Library published a catalog of Brasiliana to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Brazilian independence.  The original catalog of this exhibition, Brazil from Discovery to Independence, was prepared by Professor Emeritus Heitor Martins, who served as Chair of Indiana University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the time.  A digital version of this out-of-print publication, plus a supplement prepared by Professor Sadlier, is now available online at http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/etexts/brazil/index.php.

The ‘Portuguese-Speaking Diaspora’ exhibition runs through April 30, 2012.  For more information,  please visit http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/exhibits.shtml.

Luis A. González
Indiana University

Tags: Brazil, collections, exhibits, film festivals, Indiana University, Literature, Luis A. González, Portuguese
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Ibero American Cinema at Harvard

El cine como historia; la historia como cine: Simposio internacional sobre cine iberoamericanowas held at the Harvard University Film Archive from May 7-9, 2010.

Among the many presenters were Néstor García Canclini (UNAM), who wondered (as did other presenters) whether there is such a thing as Ibero American cinema in this age of co productions, television-sponsored films (HBO), and international financing. Juana Suárez (Univ. of Kentucky) and Gonzalo Aguilar (U. Buenos Aires) spoke about the international and multi-national nature of Ibero American film as well.

Historical memory and documentary film in Spain was a major topic, addressed by Ignacio Oliva Mompeán (Univ. de Castilla-La Mancha), Francisco A. Zurian (Univ. Carlos III) and Josetxo Cerdán (Univ. Rovira I Virgili). Oliva Mompeán discussed films made outside of Spain that address events of the Spanish Civil War: Muerte en el valle (Cristina Hardt) and Land and Freedom (Ken Loach) are two of them; to date few films addressing historical memory of the period have been made in Spain. He referenced the website “Imágenes contra el olvido” (http://www.imagenescontraelolvido.com/) which archives 13 such films.

From Cuba, Juan Antonio García Borrero (Camaguey) spoke about “ICAICentrismo” in Cuban film history, mentioning films produced by organizations and people outside of Cuban National Film Institute, and Luciano Castillo (San Antonio de los Baños) discussed the productions of Cuba Sono Film. Both García Borrero and Castillo have published extensively on film in Cuba.

Other notable speakers were Jorge Ruffinelli (Stanford Univ.), who discussed the work of Glauber Rocha while in Cuba; Román Gubern (Univ. de Barcelona), on anti-Semitism in Spanish postwar cinema, and Leonardo García Tsao (Cineteca Nacional de México) on Mexican cinema.

Laura Baigorri (Univ. de Barcelona) gave a presentation on video art in Latin America and discussed the project “Videoarde” (http://videoarde.com/). This presents a series of workshops, links, and publications; she hopes to develop a database of Latin American video art as part of the project.

The Colombian film director Víctor Gaviria presented three of his films: Vendedora de rosas, Medellín: sumas y restas and Rodrigo D no futuro and held discussions after each with Jorge Ruffinelli.

Jet setting librarians Patricia Figueroa (Brown Univ.), Jesús Alonso Regalado (SUNY Albany) and Lynn Shirey (Harvard) were in attendance and purchased copies of titles on Cuban film for their collections.

Lynn Shirey (Harvard University)

Tags: film festivals, Harvard University, Jesus Alonso-Regalado, Lynn Shirey, Patricia Figueroa
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