Glauber Rocha: key figure of the "New Cinema" in Brazil

GLAUBER THE MOVIE, LABYRINTH OF BRAZIL
Silvio Tendler | 2003

Glauber the Movie, Labyrinth of Brazil, directed by Silvio Tendler, is a documentary that follows the life and work of Glauber Rocha.

TURNING WIND
Glauber Rocha | 1962

Turning Wind is shot in the state of Bahia. When a man returns to his home, a fishing village, he finds its community oppressed by religious mysticism. Glauber Rocha’s first full-length feature is a deep reflection on the way religion can repress the political conscience and interfere in human relations. Turning Wind is a prophetic film in Glauber Rocha’s career, showing the power of cinema as an instrument of analysis and criticism of societies’ structures of power and its damaging impact on human needs.

BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL
Glauber Rocha | 1964

An allegory of the human struggle, Black God, White Devil is set in the 1930’s Brazil, in the process of transition from rural to urban structures. After murdering a tyrannical coronel, Manoel flees with his wife, Rosa, and joins a religious group that fights against the oppression of large landowners – meanwhile, these landowners hire a man named António das Mortes to kill them. Glauber Rocha’s aesthetic is strongly influenced by the 1960’s period of intellectual upheaval and change, caused by the political crisis and artistic renewal.

AMAZONAS, AMAZONAS
Glauber Rocha | 1965

Amazonas, Amazonas is a journey through the Amazon river, its natural attractions and its wealth. This short film was commissioned by the Department of Tourism and Promotions of Amazon.

ENTRANCED EARTH
Glauber Rocha | 1967

Glauber Rocha’s political allegory unfolds in an imaginary country, Eldorado. One of the filmmaker’s most acclaimed films, Entranced Earth is a metaphor for political power and corruption, following the political events of that decade. Its exhibition was initially banned in Brazil. Winner of the Golden Leopard award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1968.

ANTONIO DAS MORTES
Glauber Rocha | 1969

Glauber Rocha's first color picture. Preceded by Black God, White Devil (1964), Antonio das Mortes takes place some years after António das Mortes killed Corisco, the last of the cangaceiros (social bandits from the Northeast of Brazil). Now, a new cangaceiro arrives at a little town named Garden of Piranhas, where he will have to face António das Mortes. Thus, begins the duel between the dragon of evil and the warrior saint. Winner of Best Director Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.

THE LION HAS SEVEN HEADS
Glauber Rocha | 1970

The Lion Has Seven Heads is the result of a proposal from Claude-Antoine, who invited Glauber Rocha to make a movie in Congo. This is a film that reflects on the devastating effects of the Euro-American colonialism in Africa, from the perspective of the colonized and subordinated Other.

CUTTING HEADS
Glauber Rocha | 1970

Cabezas Cortadas is also the result of a proposal from Spanish producer Pere Fages, who invited Glauber Rocha to make a movie in Spain. This film is an allegory of the politics of the countries marked by underdevelopment through the delirious figure of Diaz, a deposed Latin American dictator who dreams of the power he had in Eldorado – the same imaginary land of Entranced Earth (1967).

CANCER
Glauber Rocha | 1968-1972

Cancer differs from other films in Brazilian New Cinema, with aesthetic proposals much closer to underground cinema, in the words of Luís Alberto Rocha Melo. This is well summarised in Glauber Rocha’s words: Cancer is a private film, I will not send it to festivals, nor will I show it in theaters. Or maybe I’ll show it, but I haven't finished it yet, I still need to edit the film. At the moment, I'm not interested in doing it because my pleasure was just in shooting it and I suppose that maybe what’s there is not of importance.

CLARO
Glauber Rocha | 1975

Mixing documentary and fiction, Claro is a film that explores the social and economic inequalities in Rome, and the dark side of the touristic city. As a female character says, later in the film, regarding a specific neighborhood: The neighborhood was created in the time of fascism. They wanted to clean up the city center. They decided (especially the Vatican), therefore, that the poor who bothered tourists should be taken to comfortable, well-kept houses, but 20km from the city, in a ghetto.

DI CAVALCANTI
Glauber Rocha | 1977

The funeral of the plastic artist Di Cavalcanti under an effusive, vibrant and even joyful glance, through a series of dispersed images and sounds. Glauber Rocha’s Di Cavalcanti is an informal tribute to an artist and his career.