Glauber Rocha


Glauber de Andrade Rocha , better known as Glauber Rocha, was a Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most influential moviemakers of Brazilian cinema and a key figure of Cinema Novo. His films Black God, White Devil and Entranced Earth are often considered to be two of the greatest achievements in Brazilian cinematic history, being selected by Abraccine as, respectively, the second and fifth best Brazilian films of all-time.
Rocha's film possess a staunch avant-garde and experimental nature, making of him a seminal figure of the new wave. His works are noted for their many political overtones, often addressing the passive-aggressive situation of the Third World, which Rocha referred to both metaphorically and objectively as "hunger" in his essay Estética da Fome. Rocha won the Prix de la mise en scène at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival for Antonio das Mortes and the 1977 Special Jury Prize for Best Short Film for Di. Three of Rocha's films were nominated for the Palme d'Or, including Entranced Earth, which was awarded the FIPRESCI at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Prix of the Locarno Film Festival of the same year.

Biography

Rocha was born in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil and moved with his family to Salvador when he was only 9 years old, there studying in a well-known Presbyterian school.
During his adolescence, he developed great interest in arts, especially theatre and cinema, and even joined a drama group. He was also very active in politics, a trait that would be strongly influential in his works. A member of the Brazilian radical left, he helped start a political party in the late 1950s that called for an anti-capitalist people's revolution and, among other things, advocated the abolition of money.
By the age of 16 he started freelancing for a local newspaper and debuted as a movie reviewer. Later, he attended Law School for about two years and in 1959, after taking part in some projects as assistant, he finally directed his first short, "Pátio". After gaining some recognition in Bahia for his critical and artistic work, Rocha decided to quit college and pursue a journalistic career, as well as being a film-maker.
He is famous for his film trilogy, made up of Black God, White Devil - perhaps his most acclaimed movie, nominated for the Golden Palm - Entranced Earth and Antonio das Mortes, award-winning for Best Director at Cannes. His films were renowned for their strongly-expressed political themes, often combined with mysticism and folklore, but also for their particular style and photography. Rocha is regarded as one of the best Brazilian directors of all time and leader of the Cinema Novo movement, as well as a full-time polemicist. He once said "I am the Cinema Novo", paraphrasing Louis XIV's famous quote. In an interview with Le Monde, Rocha said "My Brazilian films belong to a whole period when my generation was full of wild dreams and hopes. They are full of enthusiasm, faith and militancy and were inspired by my great love of Brazil."
In 1969 he was a member of the jury at the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. In the following year, Rocha made a brief appearance in the Dziga Vertov Group film Wind from the East. After refusing an invitation by Jean-Luc Godard to shoot a segment of the film, Rocha appeared as a man in a crossway pointing the direction of the political cinema, namely, the Cinema Novo.
In 1971, during the Fifth Brazilian Republic, he left the country to a voluntary exile, dwelling in many places, such as Spain, Chile and on the Portuguese Riviera. He never completely returned home until his last days, when he was transferred from Lisbon, where he had been receiving medical treatment for a lung infection, to Rio de Janeiro. Rocha resisted in hospital for few days, but ultimately died on August 22, 1981, at the age of 42.
He had been married three times and had five children.

Filmography

YearOriginal titleEnglish release titleLanguageNotes
1958Cruz na Praça Unfinished silent short film. Lost.
1959Pátio TerraceSilent
1962BarraventoBarravento / The Turning WindPortuguese
1964Deus e o Diabo na Terra do SolBlack God, White DevilPortuguese
1965Amazonas, Amazonas PortugueseShort documentary on the Amazonas state in Brazil.
1966Maranhão 66 PortugueseShort documentary on José Sarney's inaugural address as governor of Maranhão state in Brazil and its poor people's harsh life conditions.
1967Terra em TranseAnguished Land / Land Entranced / Land in Anguish / Entranced EarthPortuguese
19681968 PortugueseShort documentary on the March of the One Hundred Thousand.
1969O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo GuerreiroAntonio das MortesPortugueseFrench-Brazilian-German-American co-production
1970Der Leone Have Sept CabeçasDer Leone Have Sept Cabeças, The Lion Has Seven HeadsPortuguese, French, German, EnglishBrazilian-Italian-French-Congolese co-production.
1970Cabezas CortadasCutting HeadsSpanishSpanish-Brazilian co-production.
1972Paloma, Paloma PortugueseA diary of a trip filmed by Glauber in Punta del Este that documents the reunion of the Rocha family.
1973História do Brasil History of BrazilPortugueseCo-directed with Marcos Medeiros. Cuban-Italian co-production. Documentary on the history of Brazil.
1975ClaroItalian, French, EnglishItalian production.
1975As Armas e o Povo PortugueseCollective film. Directed with Alberto Seixas Santos, António da Cunha Telles, Eduardo Geada, José de Sá Caetano and José Fonseca e Costa. Portuguese production. Documentary on the 1974 Carnation Revolution.
1977Di PortugueseAlso known as Di Cavalcanti and Di-Glauber. Short documentary on Di Cavalcanti during his wake and burial.
1977Jorge Amado no Cinema PortugueseAlso known as Jorjamado and Jorjamado no Cinema. Short documentary on Jorge Amado.
1980A Idade da TerraThe Age of the EarthPortuguese
1982CâncerCancerPortugueseFilmed between 1968-1972.
2015A Vida É Estranha PortugueseCo-directed with Mossa Bildner. Filmed in 1973. Short documentary on Rocha and Bildner's trip to Essaouira city in Morocco.

Quotations

On art:
On politics:
On himself: