AFS Essentials Presents: Quilombo
In colonial Brazil, quilombos were democratic societies formed by freed and fugitive slaves. They farmed and voted and defended themselves from confounded Portuguese and Dutch armies with expert hide'n'seek warfare tactics. Brazil's most famed quilombo, Palmares, had a population of 30,000 at its peak and fought off European armies for almost a century.
Director Carlos Diegues' Quilombo (1984) is a sweeping hypercolor epic exploring the legend of Palmares and its charismatic leader, Zumbi (whose enshrined iconic status rivals Che Guevara's in Brazil.) Despite repeated attacks from outsiders, Zumbi and the quilombians preserve their utopia until a regiment of slave-hunting merceneries becomes hell-bent on destroying Palmares once and for all. Co-starring badass Brazilian actress Zeze Motta and featuring a weirdly jamming Gilberto Gil soundtrack in all its 80s-synth freakum glory, Quilombo ventures beyond standard historical drama with a heavy dash of magic realism.
One of the founders of Brazil's cinema novo movement, Diegues was fascinated with Brazilian identity throughout his directorial career--from Samba School (1962) to Bye, Bye Brazil (1980) to Orfeu (1999), his oeuvre is sort of a catalog of Brazilian culture and history. He approaches Quilombo from a mythic, rather than ultrarealistic perspective, which is fine with us because, um, in the absence of solid historical data documenting daily life in Palmares, who's to say it didn't sometimes look and sound like an awesome Grace Jones video?
AFS Essentials: Quilombo
Tuesday, October 23rd
Alamo South Lamar
7pm, Free for AFS members, general public may buy tickets at door if available
[Tickets / Info]
