Câmera na mão! Protagonismo de mulheres no cinema brasileiro contemporâneo

Abstract

This research analyzes six contemporary Brazilian cinema films made by Brazilian filmmakers in order to understand the production of meaning in the construction of protagonism in the forms of representation of women in the narrative in works directed by women. The women filmmakers and films chosen for analysis here are: Laís Bodanzky (SP) and the film Como Nossos Pais(2017); Jorane Castro (PA) and the film Para Ter Onde Ir(2018); Roberta Marques (CE) and the film Rânia (2012), Cristiane Oliveira (RS) and the film Mulher do Pai (2016); and Adriana Vasconcelos (DF) and the film Mãe (2018). For this investigation, we ask the following questions: How does identity is built in these films directed by women within the context of the contemporary Brazilian cinema? How has the trajectory of the researched filmmakers developed when it comes to making their films? How do these women filmmakers see the troubles and obstacles imposed on their work and their desire for producing a work that survives time? Within the framework of Cinema Theory and Gender Studies this work aims to comprehend the aspects and impasses that contribute to gender inequality in the Brazilian film industry. The implications of power in social relations at a capitalist society and the concepts developed in the studies of Saffioti (1987), J. Butler (2003), Foucault (1988) and Bourdieu (1998) are related applied for the film analysis, focusing on the questions about the cinema made by women and the ways to confront chauvinism and gender discrimination. Through the analysis and interpretation of films, specifically fiction feature films carried out by women in the last decade (2010-2020), and through interviews with filmmakers, the thesis exposes emerging questions about the film making by women in the contemporary context. The research resulted in the confirmation of the hypothesis about the aspects that contribute to gender inequality in cinema and impede a greater number of productions directed by female filmmakers. Consequently, the results validated the thesis that Brazilian filmmakers produce contemporary cinema marked by the valorization of women´s protagonism, with the preponderance of direct and indirect political themes and approaches, standing out from this is the affirmative action (thematic, language and narrative) that show the fight against sexism and also racism present in Brazilian cinema.