The Racist and Antiracist Traditions in 21st Century Brazilian Cinema

Resumo

The seminal study of race and Brazilian cinema is Robert Stam’s “Tropical Multiculturalism”. Since the publication of this groundbreaking book in 1997, there has been remarkably little effort by Brazilian film scholars or critics to deepen and build upon Stam’s central claims or extend his analysis to the 21st century. In this article I hope to reverse this trend and invigorate more discussion and study of racial politics and Brazilian film. To this end, I detail the ways that Brazilian cinema continues to be complicit with white supremacy, highlight and analyze some of the most notable antiracist Brazilian films that have been produced in recent years, and underscore what is at stake for Brazilian society if cultural workers, such as filmmakers, do not reverse course and begin taking on racism in a much more intentional and sustained way.

Keywords: Robert Stam. Multiculturalism. Brazilian cinema. Antiracism.