The 'I'm Still Here' director said he has 'rarely seen the issues of colonialism and whiteness addressed with such relevance' when speaking about Sabrina Fidalgo and Yvan Rodic's road movie, screening at Mostra de São Paulo Once the Black Lives Matter protests broke out in the U.S., Brazilian filmmaker Sabrina Fidalgo and Swiss photographer Yvan Rodic realized it was time to begin working on their passion project, “O Projeto.” The documentary, developed and shot over the six years since, began its festival journey earlier this year at Brazil’s renowned Gramado Film Festival and now arrives to wider audiences at the Mostra de São Paulo. The film was born from the encounter between Fidalgo and Rodic, who each bring their particular subjectivities—as well as their shared criticisms and musings—to this study of how Europe’s colonial past continues to shape our present both in the North and Southern spheres. The film, which was the first-ever Brazilian project to be supported by the Le Fonds de Dotation agnès b, a philanthropic fund created by famed fashion designer Agnès Troublé, was first conceived by the duo during the early days of the pandemic.
Speaking with Variety ahead of their first screening in São Paulo, the filmmakers recall the many hoops they had to jump through in those first years of development. It was tricky at times, but those very complications led to a very singular film.” Fidalgo echoes that thought: “This is the very genesis of the film: how can two people who are in theory so different think the consequences of the colonial project from within their specific perspectives?” “Yvan is a white Swiss man from the global north, I’m a Black Brazilian woman from the global south, but there are many things that unite us,” she adds. The former is an associate producer on “O Projeto,” while the latter is an “ongoing supporter,” according to the filmmakers.
It is very well directed and edited.” As for Bodanzky, Fidalgo recalls a long mutual admiration between herself and the director. But for now, Fidalgo is focused on sharing “O Projeto” with audiences alongside Rodic. Screening the film this week in São Paulo is a poignant, bittersweet moment for the duo, which sees their film gain an even greater sense of urgency as Brazil gears up for a tense second round of presidential elections between current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, infamous for glaringly racist quotes about Brazil’s enslaving past and painful colonial history.
The polls will open on this Sunday, Oct. 25. The film is in direct conversation with this movement; it’s a doc that brings images of the Black Lives Matter protests, which I believe to be the genesis of everything we are seeing right now in the world, in countries like France, Spain and the U.S.” “We feel the film is coming at th
Extract — continue reading at the source.
