To begin the research of Patricio Guzmán with a film such as La Batalla de Chile was quite the sight, as we dove into one of the most gruesome times in Chilean history where the Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie, the Coup d’état and Popular Power in the 1970s are all covered. Learning that Guzmãn was on the field of protests which occurred as almost all of Chile would strike and speak out to their government, was incredibly impactful as it takes a lot of courage to speak out against a government, aiming (literally) at their own civilians. Capturing events such as the workers strike and the final protest in the film where another filmmaker would be shot is quite horrifying yet necessary as it proves to show this dark period. I would further like to watch the full La Batalla de Chile film series as it would bring more clarity to the events of this government coup d’état.

Reflecting back on my final assignment about the Argentine Dirty War which was another gruesome event taking Argentine lives and disappearing their own civilians, it is quite similar to what had occurred in Chile. Having watched this film and other Guzman films such as The Pearl Button helped immensely as it opened my eyes to what a government military is able to achieve.

Arraial do Cabo, although being a short film, was quite interesting to watch in the class looking back as it took a traditional means of looking at the fishing world in Brazil. I wanted to discuss the difference between this film and Glauber Rocha’s narrative Barravento, as both films cover the same topic, but cover completely different grounds in terms of cinematography. With Barravento we get this extreme force of nature as Rocha decides to tackle spiritually, oppression and taking back what is rightfully one’s land. Arraial do Cabo in this sense lacks, as it only truly portrays the visual aspect of these fisherman doing work, not delving into their lives as much. Although Arraial do Cabo captures shots of the fisherman through wide lens of the process itself, characters such as Firmino and Aruã bring such drama to the concept of fishing as it is more of a means to living as they should. Overall however, learning about both films brought great pleasure as I had not known much Brazilian cinema before.

The 2013 film Pelo Malo was quite impactful as it touches on a subject to which is taboo in most Latin American households. Beginning with thoughts of changing one’s hair, Junior decides he wants to be a singer and change multiple means of his personality, acting more feminine as a means to acquire this culture. Being homophobic, the mother Marta begins to notice these patterns, claiming Junior is “sick”, gay and delusional. This film spoke to me as it was always a question in my household that would be dismissed due to a bigoted mindset. Being younger I too would question the state of my identity, would play Polly-Pockets with my sister and even try on my mothers shoes. Although out of curiosity and not so heavy, there would be phrases my family would say after seeing these actions. “Are you gay?” “I’m okay with you being gay I will still love you although it’s not natural.” These phrases would trigger me so often as I saw nothing wrong with those of LGBTQ+ background, and the thought of ever being dismissed or rejected by my family would hurt so.

With time passing on this nature would soon be taught to my family as they would grow out of their homophobic tendencies as they know it is wrong. After my sister coming out and bringing her girlfriend home, I was relieved as I thought my family would be more accepting of this topic, allowing me to explore if I so please. What the film touched on however is the brutal nature of whats taught to lineage so young, and the impact it has on a young person, with the film concluding with the beautiful hair of Junior being chopped off, just for approval from his mother. I pray for those who still feel this sense of being trapped, and hope they become who they are.

After watching The Pearl Button by Patricio Guzman, I was definitely shifted into a life changing perspective. Guzman’s film consisted of both documentary style and storytelling format as he would tell the tale of the indigenous Chileans and their relationship with water as it was taken away by the settlers of England. This story moved me as it shifted my whole perspective on the world and religion as a whole as Guzman was able to direct a heartbreaking tale on the Alacalufe and Yaghan tribe’s demise due to colonialism. Watching and hearing tales of Jemmy Button, the preservation of language and the stories of hunting the indigenous made me feel sick of those who colonized and took over the lives of the Chileans of whom the land belonged to.

Although a grim outlook on the effects of the takeover from Chilean land, you are able to see the unity from the remaining survivors as they conserve the language and traditions from their ancestors. Although again quite sad, this made me feel hope as the recognition of the minority would allow for others to understand the severity of the situation in Chile; allowing for regular viewers to understand the importance of the Chilean country.

For our last week in class we watched Glauber Rocha’s Black God, White Devil which struck me as a very influential film as it warps the relationship between morality, religion, and the poor man. Whilst watching the film I wanted to highlight one of my favorite aspects which was the cinematography. Rocha successfully maintained his traditional cinematic technique with intimate close up shots, and dramatic framing as he would shoot the characters Manuel and Rosa. Two scenes which I adore is when the duo is in the church about to do the sacrifice with Sebastiao and the scene in which Carisco is talking to the group about the next step in his plan. Sebastiao’s sacrafice scene was in contrast with the rest of the film as it is only of the only scene’s which contained darkness, which is ironic for a religious figure. Being the cult leader he is, we see Sebastiao in dim lighting in a far away frame to which we move in closer, creating a sinister energy in the shot which shows Rocha’s skill in creating tension. This scene is then reversed in terms of shot style as we move into Carisco’s speech as the camera is actually quite close on the subject, moving around in circles around the subject making it seem as if all rules of cinematography are thrown out of the room. The closeness of this shot feels as if we are there in the action, making it as if these two scenes containing our antagonists Sebastiao and Carisco are opposite sides of the coin, with one being a much more formal style of shooting, and the other experimental.

For my presentation last week I was assigned to discuss Glauber Rocha and his documentary Di Calvacanti (1977) in which we discussed the topic of ethics in filming, capturing those who we love, and the documentary style of Rocha. I wanted to touch upon however the concept of which Rocha filmed his deceased friend, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti; and focus on is it unethical to film a funeral in a way such as Rocha. For starters, Rocha filmed in such a way where his film had gotten banned by the family of Cavalcanti, but was this justified? On one hand you can exclaim that Rocha was being irrational, and bringing a grotesque approach to this cinematic technique. However, if looked at by the other perspective, you can say this was perhaps a cry for help in the purest form. From what we see in the film Di Calvacanti, we can clearly see this psychotic state coming from Rocha in describing his friends death. It may seem poorly thought out at first, but rather it is one of Rocha’s purest forms of work as he felt that Di Calvacanti must be filmed in a cinema novo-esque manner, truly praising one of Brazil’s greatest painters.

For this week we delve into films made by Sara Gomez, an inspiring Cuban filmmaker who had passion for her island, Rumba and of course family. Some of the films we had watched were Guanabacoa, Cronicas de Mi Familia, Una Isla Para Miguel, and Mi Aporte. The film that I felt left an impression on me however was Ire A Santiago as I thought it was a great survey of the eastern Cuban city, in comparison to the film we had watched prior, PM by Orlando Jimenez.

PM was a film in which highlighted the nightlife in the Cuban city Havana, showing people dancing all over, and showcasing integration between different Cuban residents. Collectively as a class we watched PM and Ire A Santiago, however in order to compare the two as Gomez’s film highlights the true integration of Cuban civilians as it highlighted the different roles, activities, and lifestyles that Cubans explore; rather than in PM, which solely associates Black Cubans with the nightlife. What I find interesting is the two perspectives both Gomez and Jimenez have on the two areas of Cuba. Perhaps they could’ve have grown up differently in their respective areas of Cuba, possibly holding different meanings of their island. If I were to film my respective home, I would definitely visualize the best aspects of the area and demographic, making it seem more glamorous, but Gomez was able to capture this mode of cinema by capturing the small intimate moments that make Cuba such a beautiful country to live in.

In our first class we were introduced to various different topics and films, however the film I wanted to discuss is La Hora de los Hornos by directors Octavio Getino and Fernando Solana, and their ability to enable didactic means through the act of imperfect cinema. La Hora de los Hornos is primarily about the neocolonialism and economic struggle in Argentina, and in order to show these issues the directors use techniques highlighted in Julio García Espinosa’s “For an Imperfect Cinema”. The sequence I wanted to focus on that primarily uses this educational strategy is the part of the film that shows the indigenous Argentine people.

The sequence mentioned shows insight of struggle faced by Argentine indigenous populations as their land is constantly taken and their people forgotten. In order to show this hardship in a didactic way, the directors use camerawork, available resources and basic imperfect cinema thinking to exemplify the problem. In Julio García Espinosa’s “For an Imperfect Cinema”, García mentions how the root of all perfect cinema involves showing “the process which generates the problems” (¶10,1 Espinosa), the rejection of exhibitionism in cinema and the disinterest in quality or technique; which is all shown in the La Hora de los Hornos sequence involving the Argentine indigenous. Within the sequence we see the elder talking about the colonialism occurring and the sick people in the village, which shows the problem face on rather than hiding it. Another example of this is shown when we see the camera focusing closely on the children’s faces, showing the discomfort that is felt when these hardships are in play in shots that are rough and dismiss traditional standards. This scene can be considered an excellent example of the relation between Julio García Espinosa’s “For an Imperfect Cinema” and Octavio Getino and Fernando Solana’s La Hora de los Hornos.