Reliving the trauma, relieving the trauma, releasing the trauma: on The Obituary of Tunde Johnson

#TIFF Is it impossible to think about Blackness outside of the confines of whiteness?

Analyzing the Past and Decolonizing the Future

Heitor Augusto takes a closer look at the exhibtion Afterlives of Slavery at the Tropenmuseum Amsterdam.

Blaxploitation, a cinema of rage*

Blaxploitation films introduce us to black characters with a level of agency and determination rarely seen in either commercial or independent films, tackling sensitive issues with an in-your-face approach that is far more powerful than some well-intended social problem pictures

This is America, an experience of pleasure, terror and contradiction

Once you step into Childish Gambino’s territory, you better be ready to be dazed and confused

Dialogue Between Cinema, Performance And The Visual Arts

Marked by unconventional creative processes, contemporary productions by black women artists such as Pontes sobre abismos, NoirBLUE and Kbela reveal intersections between languages, devices and formats.

Vazante: The abject gaze (English Version)

That’s the contradiction of Vazante: it is a work that presents itself as an historical account of what was done to black bodies throughout Brazil’s social formation, but denies any meaningful possibility of agency and autonomy to black characters and, worse than that, to a black spectator.

Dear White People, unapologetically black (English version)

A close look at the film’s title raises an inevitable question: who does Dear White People assume as its interlocutor? In the context of contemporary American cinema, Justin Simien’s satire is a rare case of a film who doesn’t back for white attention.

Prison System 4614, an act of mise en scène (English Version)

While a softer, less threatening approach would make it easier on the audience and could turn the film to an investigation of the personality of the characters, filmmaker Jan Soldat goes raw.

Selma: negotiating blackness in American Cinema (English version)

The fact we must acknowledge is that the film industry finances so few movies about the multiplicity of black experience that every time one of these films comes around we bring an unspoken expectation that it’ll be a definitive one, able to address all the uncovered topics.

Short Films: The Challenges of Creative Freedom

We should be open to diverse narrative strategies that cannot be easily pigeonholed. The risk comes when the mere denial of tradition is seen as a merit and validation in and of itself.

Delicate issues, unfulfilling execution: Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo’s San Cristóbal (English version)

San Cristóbal illustrates the idea of oppression based on sexual orientation, but does not extend the characters’ lives to other dimensions. Lucas and Antonio seem to exist only to prove a predetermined point.

Keeping it simple: Joaquim Pinto’s and Nuno Leonel’s Fish Tail (English Version)

One of the strengths of this film is that the filmmakers present banal events through an enchanted perspective that reflects their genuine interest in the characters’ lives.