Korean Film Archive Holds 'Film and Space: Brazil' Exhibition

The Korean Film Archive (hereafter referred to as 'the Archive') will hold the 'Film and Space: Brazil' exhibition from November 18 (Tuesday) to December 31 (Wednesday) at the Cinematheque KOFA (located in Sangam-dong). This exhibition will showcase over 30 high-quality works set primarily in Brazil. 'Film and Space' is a representative exhibition series of the Archive that has been ongoing since 2015, and this year's ninth journey focuses on Brazil. The program proposes a journey to symbolic spaces through film, allowing the audience to experience the culture and perspectives of each region through the screen. In particular, the 'Brazil' section highlights the multifaceted landscape of Brazil through various works, allowing the audience to feel a vivid experience as if they were traveling in the local area through the films.

□ An Opportunity to Reflect on the History of Brazilian Cinema

This exhibition is divided into three sections. The first section, 'Panorama', features 10 films selected for their strong representation of the theme 'Film and Space' from Brazilian cinema produced over 80 years from the 1930s to the 2010s. Included are the classic of Brazilian experimental cinema 〈Limite〉 (Mário Peixoto, 1931), a representative work of the Cinema Novo movement 〈The Oath of Santa Barbara〉 (Anselmo Duarte, 1962), the globally acclaimed 〈Central Station〉 (Walter Salles, 1998), and 〈City of God〉 (Fernando Meirelles, 2002), as well as the debut film 〈Neighboring Sounds〉 (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012) from the recently emerged young master of Brazilian cinema. The works in this section delicately portray the relationship between characters and space, showcasing the essence of Brazilian cinema.

The second section, 'Cinema Novo', highlights the representative film movement that occurred in Brazil during the 1960s. 'Cinema Novo' is a movement that critically reflects on social realities and seeks innovation in cinematic language. Under the slogan 'Ideas in the Mind and Camera in Hand', it transformed poverty, inequality, and oppression into artistic power, forming the unique Brazilian aesthetic known as 'the aesthetics of hunger'. This movement, which combined political participation with formal experimentation, redefined the identity of Brazilian cinema and deeply influenced creators of subsequent generations. A total of 11 films, including 〈The Land in Anguish〉 (Glauber Rocha, 1967), 〈Macunaíma〉 (Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, 1969), and 〈São Bernardo〉 (Leon Hirszman, 1972), along with various short and feature films, will be screened.

The final section, 'Cinema Marginal and Beyond', focuses on the radical film movement that emerged from the flow of 'Cinema Novo' in the late 1960s. 'Cinema Marginal' is characterized by resistance against institutions and censorship, as well as the deconstruction of existing cinematic grammar. Directors such as Ojuarldo Candeias, Rogério Sganzerla, and Júlio Bressane expanded the aesthetic boundaries of Brazilian cinema with a rough and free experimental spirit influenced by American B-movies and European New Cinema. This short but intense movement has led to a tradition of independent and avant-garde Brazilian cinema, and its legacy continues to this day. In this section, five works from Cinema Marginal, including the film considered the starting point of the movement 〈The Edge〉 (Ojuarldo Candeias, 1967) and the cult horror film 〈The Strange World of Coffin Joe〉 (José Mojica Marins, 1968), will be screened alongside five Brazilian films that continue the dialogue with this movement. Among them are 〈One is a Little, Two is Good〉 (Odilon Lopes, 1970) and 〈New Wave〉 (José Antonio Garcia, Icaro Martinh, 1983), which were screened at this year's Jeonju International Film Festival.