Mobile Navigation
The Portuguese word “cruzamentos” translates literally as “crossings” or “intersections,” but in Brazil, it also refers metaphorically to the mixing of cultures and ethnicities that renders the country so distinctive. Such cross pollination is also one of the reasons why Brazil has been producing some of the most innovative and captivating documentaries on the globe for the last four decades. Not only have Brazilian filmmakers such as Eduardo Coutinho, Leon Hirszman, João Moreira Salles and Walter Salles moved freely between documentaries and fiction films, but many of the documentaries themselves also blur the lines between fact and fiction, memory and truth, performance and personality. Part of the largest survey of Brazilian cinema in North America since the Museum of Modern Art’s defining 1998 series and tour, Cinema Novo and Beyond (also presented in Los Angeles by the Archive), Cruzamentos: Contemporary Brazilian Documentary provides an occasion to explore this provocative and engaging cinematic tradition, from founding texts (Iracema, 1974; Twenty Years Later, 1985) to recent triumphs (Justice, 2004; Santiago, 2007). At the same time, it allows an opportunity to examine a country in motion and to contextualize the astonishing economic and cultural transformation that Brazil has witnessed over the past 20 years.
Note: This series was drawn from the larger touring program, Cruzamentos: Contemporary Brazilian Documentary, curated by Chris Stults, associate curator, film/video, Wexner Center for the Arts. Program notes adapted from notes written by Chris Stults.
Cruzamentos is made possible through the support of UCLA Latin American Institute, UCLA Center for Brazilian Studies, the UCLA Department of Spanish & Portuguese and the UCLA Division of Humanities.
Special thanks to: Randal Johnson, chair, UCLA Department of Spanish & Portuguese; David Arriaza, executive director, Kevin Terraciano, director, UCLA Latin American Institute; Karin Nielsen, director, UCLA Center for Brazilian Studies; David Schaberg, dean, UCLA Division of Humanities; Chris Stults, associate curator, film/video, Wexner Center for the Arts.
