Both Film Quarterly and Zapruder World – two journals where I have just published new essays – will be holding webinars within the next few days to celebrate the release of their new issues and discuss the texts. I’m looking forward to joining my fellow authors to talk about “The Monstrification of Underdevelopment in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema: Ava Yvy Vera and Seven Years in May“ this Friday, and “Brazil in Social (Un)Rest: Cinema in a Provisional State” next Monday.
“The Monstrification of Underdevelopment in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema: Ava Yvy Vera and Seven Years in May” is included in the Brazilian cinema dossier that is part of the Winter 2020, Volume 74, Number 2 issue of Film Quarterly. I will be joining dossier editors B. Ruby Rich and João Luiz Vieira, and authors Janaína Oliveira, Marcelo Ikeda, Natalia Brizuela, and Tatiana Monassa to discuss our pieces on Friday, January 22, 1pm EST/3pm Brasília. The event is free and open to the public, and you may register for it here. The article is focused on two films: Seven Years in May (2019), by Affonso Uchôa – currently available on VOD in many parts of the world – and Ava Yvy Vera – The Land of the Lightning People (2016), by Genito Gomes, Valmir Gonçalves Cabreira, Jhonn Nara Gomes, Jhonaton Gomes, Edina Ximenes, Dulcídio Gomes, Sarah Brites, and Joilson Brites, which was screened alongside Uchôa’s film at Veredas – A Generation of Brazilian Filmmakers, at Film at Lincoln Center, and that is currently available here. Some of the other films written about for the dossier are currently streaming as part of a film series held at the BAMPFA, and the entire dossier will be free to read at Film Quarterly for the duration of the series.
“Brazil in Social (Un)Rest: Cinema in a Provisional State” is part of a special issue of Zapruder World devoted to cinema and social conflict, which is free to read. I will be joining Zapruder World editor Brian Griffith, dossier editors Daniel Fairfax, André Keiji Kunigami, and Luca Peretti, and fellow authors Cynthia D. Porter, Renzo Sgolacchia, Dom Holdaway and Dalila Missero on Monday, January 25, 12pm EST/2pm Brasília via Zoom and Facebook Live. The article is focused on three recent Brazilian feature films, all of which can be viewed online: Araby (2017), by Affonso Uchôa and João Dumans, released in the US by Grasshopper Film; Good Manners (2017), by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra, released in the US by Distrib Films; and Once There Was Brasília (2017), by Adirley Queirós, currently featured at the Criterion Channel.