It was the very mother who Abdias Nascimento received the first lessons of how it should behave in life on the issue of blackness. A child in Franca, São Paulo, when he attended owner Josina resolutely, taking a black and orphaned child from the hands of a white neighbor, who beat her. His mother, always so sweet and calm, filled with unexpected fury, ran in defense of the boy. This scene marked the beginning of my awareness of the reality of the black situation in Brazil Born in 1914, only 26 years after the abolition of slavery, he took a fighting stance and face for the rest of life, as the account in the documentary Abdias Nascimento, directed by the Bahian filmmaker Antonio Olavo. Abdias do Nascimento was born in France, the state of São
Focusing on Salvador a city within the state of Bahia, it has a population of over 3 million people which was previously the capital of Brazil and has many historical influences, such as it “…was the largest and most important port for the trafficking of Africans and other goods on the transatlantic trade route.” (pgs. 5,8). Importantly, Salvador is the most the largest Black population outside of Africa, and is 77 percent Black with 2.3 million Black residents, and is a major factor in determining the projection of living standards and conditions, that re cast in negative commentaries throughout the other parts of the country. (p. 7). This plays a significant role in the social and economic hierarchy as the idea of the country not being influenced by racial distinctions is contradicted by the actual living conditions of Afro-Cubans verses that of other ethnic groups.
Chica da Silva was an Afro-Brazilian slave born Francisca da Silva de Oliveira in 18Th century Brazil to an African mother named Maria da Costa and a Portuguese overseer named Antônio Caetano e Sá. Chica was later sold to João Fernandes de Oliveira a rich Portuguese diamond mine operator, who freed her from slavery and famously became her life long partner. Chica da Silva became known as the slave who became queen because she went from a slave to an elitist which was unheard of during her time. Chica’s life story has fascinated historians and Brazilians alike for centuries with many myths regarding her life.
Guantanamera celebrates Cuban paradoxes in a comedy as well as in a serious tone about life,death, and politics. Tomas Gutierrez Alea did a tremendous job directing this film specifically for one element the motion in the film. Guantanamera, which means "a woman from Guantanamo," starts out with Gina, played by Mirtha Ibarra, awaiting her Aunt Yoyita in Guanatanamo. Yoyita is a famous singer living in Havana who has not been to Guantanamo in 50 years. She reunites with her old lover and unexpectedly dies when she sees a young girl.
The third issue we found out from “Serpico” is corruption. In the movie, police officer Frank Serpico exposed corruption in the New York City police department. He was the first officer to testify against another officer. Corruption is the dishonest behavior and wrong doing on the part of an authority or powerful party through means that are illegitimate, immoral, and incompatible with ethical standards. Corruption are include giving or accepting bribes or inappropriate presents, double dealing, under-the-table transactions, manipulating elections, diverting funds, laundering money and defrauding investors.
Racial disparity in Brazil is best explained in Abdias Nascimento article, Quilombismo: An Afro-Brazilian Political Alternative. “I believe that the Black and mulatto the Brazilian of colour must have a racial counter-ideology and a counter position in socioeconomic terms. The Brazilian of colour must strive simultaneously for a double change: socioeconomic change in the country, and change in race and colour relations.” In 1968, through these words, Afro-Brazilian scholar, artist, and politician Abdias Nascimento called attention to the potentially divergent but essentially related nature of the two main objectives of Afro-Brazilian activism: first, to effect concrete change in the distribution of social and economic power in Brazil, and second,
The following line from The Florida Project best sums up the film: “You know why this is my favourite tree? Cause it’s tipped over and it’s still growing.” Spoken by Moonee while eating jelly sandwiches with Jancey on the trunk of a lush, collapsed tree, the line draws a perfect similarity between the fallen tree’s continued growth and the motel residents’ efforts to trudge through poverty despite their representations in society. Sean Baker’s The Florida Project depicts Moonee, a six-year old living at the Magic Castle (a dilapidated motel just outside Walt Disney World) with her unemployed mother Halley.
Though they are friends, the lives of Pedro Machuca and Gonzalo Infante differ drastically in many aspects including family life, the luxuries they can afford, and the political affiliations chosen by their families. All of which relate to the common everyday life of Chilean citizens during the Allende Presidency, and the Pinochet Dictatorship implemented after the coup d'etat. During this time, the civil unrest never ceased, and life for chileans was generally either good or bad based on social status, income, and party affiliation. Both Machuca and Infante are classic examples of the division inequality of life amongst Chileans, with Machuca being a poor boy who lived in a shanty town, having very little education, and owning very few possessions. Where as Infante is wealthy, has a high end private education, and can afford to buy various luxury items such as brand name shoes and food for his family.
Individuality is unaccepted and isolated from our society that embraces conformed values. The Copy Shop and L’homme sans tete are examples of short films that reflect this ironic problem of society where individuals are not identified with their individual morals, but conformed morals enforced by society. The 2001 short film, Copy Shop by Virgil Widrich conveys the idea of conformity. This is done foremost through the metaphor of 'copies' that fill up the film's world that represent conformity, where the composer satirises our society which is filled up by 'copies' of individuals sharing conformed ideals.
In the wildly popular Mexican film, Los olvidados (1950), Spanish director Luis Buñuel exposes the harsh realities of life in Mexico during the 1950’s. Luis Buñuel’s work on Los olvidados portrays a societal loss for all hope due to crime and violence as an infinitely vicious cycle, coupled with addressing the lack of reform for dilapidated living conditions throughout Mexico. In Los olvidados, Buñuel follows Pedro (Alfonso Mejía) a neglected bastard, and El Jaibo (Roberto Cobo) the leader of a gang of homeless children loitering in vacant lots. For Pedro, and the rest of the cast, a series of unfortunate outcomes have been strung together though common ignorance and a lack of self-control. Luis Buñuel’s use of focal length, editing, and dialogue
Film is a story of people and a story made by the people. Since society is a world of community where people creates atmospheres and interact with one another, through films we can look into the mirror of the society at that time. The French society from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s was the time when the postwar modernization for France had begun. During this time period there were many values that the society reflected and various cultures that were embedded into the people’s lives.
In the short story “Flavio’s Home”, the author Gordon Parks expresses the poverty in Rio de Janeiro. Gordon Parks was a journalist, and photographer for “Life Magazine” and “Vogue Magazine”. Parks went to Rio De Janeiro in 1990 to enlighten the United States about the poverty-stricken areas in Brazil. The assignment given to him was to find an impoverished father with a family, and examine his earnings. Contrarily, when Parks seen a boy named Flavio; he became fascinated by his appearance and began to follow him home.
The Elimination: A Survivor of the Khmer Rouge Confronts His Past and the Commandant of the Killing Fields. Rithy Panh is an internationally and critically acclaimed Cambodian documentary film director and screenwriter. Rithy Panh was a young boy when Khmer Rouge revolutionaries arrived in Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. Starting that day, he and his family were designated “new people”—the revolution’s code for those who needed “re-education”—and forcibly evacuated out of the city. That day began a terrifying experience that gradually took away most of his family, forcing Rithy to survive a series of brutal, and often arbitrarily cruel, ordeals.
At some point of your life you meet very special people that carry very similar interests. This creates bonds that can be a very powerful and important part of your life. Some may say that bonds are created between a series of negative events that leads up to friendship. However, this is not true because in The Way, the main characters come together to walk the same path. Each character motivates each other to achieve the overall reason of why they wanted to walk The Camino De Santiago.
In the film Extreme Measures someone can find ideas of Secular Ethics throughout the film involving Utilitarianism and its basic tenets along with Kantian analysis. The basic tenets of Utilitarianism include the principle of utility, Hedonism, and the viewpoint of a disinterested and benevolent spectator. While the tenets of Kantian Ethics, which include good will, the formula of universal law, the formula of the end itself, and the categorical imperative. These basic ideas setup arguments for and against the Utilitarian ideas set up by doctor Myrick. In the film doctor Myrick makes the claim that it is worth the deaths of unwilling subjects in order to help/save the lives of millions.
Coco, released in 2017, is an animated film directed by Adrian Molina and Lee Unkirch. It follows a young boy named Miguel Rivera and his journey as he is transported to the land of the dead. Generations ago, Miguel’s family became a family of shoe makers. Miguel’s great-great grandfather abandoned his great-great grandmother, Imelda, and his daughter Coco to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. Instead of lying around crying because her husband left her, Mama Imelda banned music in her family and began a shoe making business to be able to provide for her young daughter.