Tell them the Palme d’Or is coming home. From May 14 to May 25, we witnessed the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, where Brazil brought one Palme d’Or home for "Best Revelation Actor," awarded to Ricardo Teodoro in "Baby" (Marcelo Caetano, 2024). Additionally, five other Brazilian movies were brought to Cannes. Two of them were the only Latin American titles competing for the Palme d’Or: "Motel Destino" (Karim Aïnouz, 2024) and the short film "Amarela" (André Hayato Saito, 2024). The other films included "Queda do Céu" (Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, 2024), the short animation "A Menina e o Pote" (Valentina Homem, 2024), and a restored version of "Bye, Bye Brasil" (Cacá Diegues, 1979). Let’s delve into the importance of these achievements for Brazil.
Baby (Marcelo Caetano, 2024)
“Baby” is a hidden gem polished at Cannes this year. The movie is set in São Paulo, the biggest metropolis in Latin America, which shelters people from all walks of life—socially, geographically, and politically—trying to make a living. This diversity is notable in the characters.
It humanizes the citizens of paper, who often reduced to mere statistics, subject-does-not-matter in the news and by society. The ghosts haunting traditional norms. The film follows the journey of a young man newly released from a two-year stint in juvenile detention. During his incarceration, his parents moved away without leaving any clue of their whereabouts, and he finds a new home on the Paulista streets. There, he meets a variety of characters from society's shadows and transforms the grey concrete jungle into his sanctuary.
There are layers behind this iceberg. The film addresses relevant themes as Brazil is one of the leaders in socioeconomic inequality and LGBTQIA+ violence. It also contrasts with the country's traditional views on family structure.
Motel Destino(Karim Aïnouz, 2024), Amarela (André Hayato Saito, 2024), and Queda do Céu(Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, 2024)
There was a bit of azeite dendê in Cannes this year with a nomination and standing ovation for “Motel Destino” accompanied with forró music. This film plays a significant role as the protagonism to the Brazilian Northeastern, which is the epitome of stereotypes as in Brazil. The common association of the region is with the Caatinga—a rural setting known for its extended periods of drought, irregular rainfall, and high temperatures. These conditions contribute to its status as one of the poorest regions in the country and prompt many residents to migrate elsewhere.
Additionally, the practice of "Brazilian yellowface," where non-Northeastern performers use makeup to portray caricatured versions of Northeastern characters, often exaggerates the region's distinct accent for humour. Despite these stereotypes, the culture of the Northeast is vibrantly preserved in productions that highlight its unique aesthetics. However, modernization has changed the Caatinga, contrasting with the outdated ideal in Brazilian collective imagination. The biome continues to be the muse in literature and music, paying integral parts of Brazil's cultural heritage, filled with stories to (re)tell and history to make.
Cannes is a notable and prestigious platform for Northeastern Brazilians to share their perspective. Their presence has been notable in consecutive years at the festival, with filmmakers like Kleber Mendonça Filho, who presented “Aquarius” in 2016 and “Bacurau” in 2019, paving the way for Karim Aïnouz.
Beyond that, Brazil is a country born of miscegenation. Its foundation includes Indigenous peoples, African slaves, and Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch colonizers. After its independence, Christ the Redeemer has always welcomed immigrants with open arms. People from Italy, Germany, Japan, and the Levant (Syria and Lebanon), among many other groups, have contributed to the country’s diverse and enriching heritage. Despite the country's historical focus on a white narrative, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for diverse storytelling, as seen in the work of Japanese-Brazilian director André Hayato Saito. As well as "A Queda do Céu" which depicts the yanomami reality in the Amazon rainforrest.
Bye Bye, Brasil (Cacá Diégenes, 1979)
This year featured the restoration of “Bye Bye, Brazil,” a classic from the Brazilian Cinema Novo movement. Cinema Novo emerged in Brazil during the 1960s and 1970s as a unique fusion of France's New Wave and Italy's Neorealism. It represented a departure from traditional storytelling norms, drawing inspiration from the subversion seen in the French New Wave and the denunciatory themes characteristic of Italian Neorealism. In contrast to the mainstream Brazilian cinema of the era, which mainly comprised musicals, comedies, and Hollywood-style epics, Cinema Novo films delved into the harsh realities of Brazilian society. They shed light on marginalized communities such as the favelas (urban slums) and sertão (rural hinterlands), bringing their stories out of the shadows and challenging societal norms.
This restoration plays a significant role in contemporary Brazil, reflecting ongoing social and cultural challenges. This context will be further discussed in a section below, so stay tuned for that important piece of information!
A Menina e o Pote (Valentina Homem, 2024)
This year featured the third edition of the Lights on Women’s Worth award, an initiative aimed at creating opportunities for women in film and addressing the industry's under-representation of women. This award was created by L’Oreal Paris, which is also a sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival. Of the 21 movies competing at Cannes this year, only four were directed by women, one of whom was Brazilian. Despite having Greta Gerwig as the president of the feature film jury, only three female directors have won the Palme d’Or in nearly 80 years of the festival's history. Additionally, many awards have historically omitted female co-directors, such as in the cases of "Slumdog Millionaire" (2009) and "City of God" (2004).
The contributions of women in film have often been overlooked since the early days of cinema. During the silent era, not only did the silver screen remain silent, but so did the recognition of women behind the camera. Despite their invaluable role in shaping the evolution of cinematic language, many women were compelled to use male pseudonyms to garner recognition, or their contributions went unsigned altogether. Many of their works and contributions were lost to history, sometimes literally, in fire incidents that destroyed film archives.
Worthwhile
This year marked the redebut of Brazil at the festival after a five-year absence. The former president, Jair Bolsonaro, was known for dismantling public investments in Brazilian culture. During his tenure, cultural workers faced significant financial difficulties, and a fire at the Cinemateca Brasileira, where the national audiovisual archive is preserved, further exacerbated the situation.
In 2023, a new era began with Lula's government, whose story was on Cannes with a documentary in his honour. He encouraged public policies like the Audiovisual Sector Fund (FSA) and the restitution of the Superior Cinema Council. This support is already evident, with national cinema dominating the box office domestically and Brazil making a golden return to the international film festival circuit. There are still many stories to share, but Brazilian filmmakers are paving the way for future storytellers, ready to explore new horizons and bring our narratives to the world.
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