Celso Prudente, organiser and curator for the International Exhibition of Black Cinema
26 Nov, 2013
Read in English below | Leia em Português aqui
INTERVIEW
The 10th annual International Exhibition of Black Cinema is taking place from 25th to 30th November in the city of São Paulo. The event, organised by anthropologist Celso Luiz Prudente, openned at the Memorial da América Latina with a special invite-only session. Next days the event is at the Alceu Amoroso Lima Library and at Casa Pau Brasil with free screenings of films from various countries.
Culturart spoke with the event organiser who explained the importance of a film event looking specifically towards the portrayal of the negro taking place in Brazil: “Black Cinema, translating as a rescuing force in reinforcing a positive image of African identity in the midst of Western dominance in determining images, demonstrating itself as a human testimony in support of the contemporary (…) The International Exhibition of Black Cinema is a potential discursive forum which helps to construct an image affirming this African identity”, said Celso Prudente.
Check out the full schedule here and read the entire interview:
Why did you create the International Exhibition of Black Cinema?
Celso Prudente – The International Exhibition of Black Cinema came about due to the need for an organisation to exist, in various sectors of Brazilian society, to affirm cultural democracy in a meaningful way. This phenomenon is apparent above all within minorities and, with particular reference to African descendents who are an ethno-racial minority, given their fragile history which highlights disjointed power relationships. Given the technological revolution which has placed information as the central form of existence, much like mechanics when looking to the Industrial Revolution, image has become the fundamental element in considering substantial configuration of information. That‘s to say that an individual or a group which has a demeaned or marginalised image suffers from veritable socio-cultural exclusion. However, Black Cinema translates as a rescuing force in reinforcing a positive image of African identity in the midst of Western dominance in determining images, demonstrating itself as a human testimony in support of the contemporary. This framework has uncovered an international condition which reveals how images of minority groups are twisted, especially that of the black community which lives through the trauma coming from the impact of violent diasporas that still influences vital points linked to worldwide socio-cultural relations. This situation brought about The International Exhibition of Black Cinema as a possible discursive forum that supports the construction of an affirming image if African identity. It is dedicated to Black Cinema and to showing this international cinematographic tendency, which suggests an educative dynamic as a response to the need for modernisation.
In addition to film screenings, what else is included within the schedule?
Celso Prudente – As a teacher at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT) in the Amazonia region, the greatest area of biodiversity in the world, in dialogue with São Paulo, the greatest cosmopolitan are in South America, I believe that in 2013 The International Exhibition of Black Cinema preaches love as a means of respect to diversity and respect to biodiversity, in response to the fatal planetary crisis we face today. Within this edition we commemorate 50 years of Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech and 100 years of the poet Vinícius de Moraes. Consequently, the main honoree of this edition is Haroldo Costa who was the first black actor to perform a lead role in a play at the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro: “Orfeu da Conceição”, a play by Vinícius de Moraes. Whilst being a secondary school student in Rio de Janeiro, Haroldo Costa also was a student leader, an idealist with similar feelings to the North American civil rights movement. Furthermore this is the first film with music by Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, with praised song “Eu Não Existo sem Você” performed by Elizeth Cardoso, a haunting black singer known as “The Divine”, guitar by the genius João Gilberto and piano also by Tom Jobim. It was the soundtrack for the 1958 film “Pista de Grama”, performed and directed by Haroldo Costa. However, it is profoundly appropriate and fair that the screening coincides with the 50th anniversary of “I Have a Dream” and 100 years of the poet Vinícius de Moraes paying homage to the great figure of Brazilian culture, marked by African identity, that being Haroldo Costa. It is worth mentioning that the aim of the 10th International Exhibition of Black Cinema is to rescue fundamental values which support humanity as a key element within contemporary times.
How do you see the black community in the present day? Do you think the situation for them has changed in the 21st Century?
Celso Prudente – Without doubt, history moves faster than ideas, in such a way that contradictions produce principles for development. The new concept of an international community has made the World’s population push for the construction of more equal relations, at least it can be seen in public policies including quotas which seek to redress issues with affirmative action in favour of minorities who, for historic reasons, still live with fragile relations. In this way, the fight to overcome the harmful impact of violent African diasporas has become ever more obvious between forces calling out for a life that respects diversity, looking to contribute to efforts in overcoming the planetary ecological crisis, thus powers also looking towards respect for biodiversity. It seems to me that this framework not only indicates an improvement in conditions for the black community, but a perfecting of human relations which establish a better level of life for the human species and in turn, profound respect for the environment. A phenomenon that “the halfblind see”, shows an improvement in the relations of existence, suggesting a period of better understanding translated into compromise, allowing lives and experiences a time in which the scenario of peace-building qualifies participants, giving them as such the status of contemporaneity. So the sense of contemporaneity is indicated by those who supported the emergence of The International Exhibition of Black Cinema. The contemporary is the vital element of the event alongside human reasoning, so this act establishes itself as an onotological resistance of African identity that supports profound austerity, from love of the other and above all, of yourself.
