Cruzamentos: Contemporary Brazilian Documentary
Developed in conjunction with our current exhibition, Via Brasil, and the largest survey of such films ever presented in North America, Cruzamentos: Contemporary Brazilian Documentary seeks to show and explore just what is so extraordinary about the recent wave of significant documentaries being produced in Brazil. Focusing primarily on films made since the end of the country’s military dictatorship in 1984—a period of astonishing economic and cultural transformation—the series captures a country trying to sort through its unique history, make sense of the present, and consider the future. But beyond that, these are all great films that deserve to be much more widely known the world over. The series continues in March and April.
In particular, the film focuses in on three years (1967–69) in the life of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, years in which they became generational lightning rods—getting censored and banned by the military dictatorship, and eventually jailed and exiled, for their music. (87 mins., DCP)
