In Black Consciousness month, TV Brasil presents a special program with thematic productions to discuss topics such as black culture, ancestry and combating prejudice through audiovisual media. The public broadcaster highlights content developed through the Prodav Public TVs notice.
From November 2nd, the channel will show two independent documentary attractions in sequence, on Saturdays, at 11pm, both with five editions. The series Voice of the Skin addresses racism in Brazilian society. Soon after, at 11:30 pm, the news is the premiere of the series Encounters with African Cinemaa work created, directed and presented by filmmaker Joel Zito Araújo.
The production Voice of the Skin brings testimonies from important contemporary black thinkers such as Muniz Sodré, Rosane Borges, Flavio Gomes, Katiúscia Ribeiro, Rosana Paulino, Ana Flavia Magalhães, Renato Noguera, Alexya Salvador, Veronica Oliveira, Mônica Lima and Paco Gomes.
African Cinema
New content in the public channel’s programming, Joel Zito Araújo’s documentary series seeks to reflect on aesthetics and narratives of the seventh art. The unprecedented attraction reveals the contemporary African cinema scene and provides an overview of its trajectory for the Brazilian public.
The series builds this narrative by following the filmmaker’s travels and visits to great directors in different countries on the continent. The production shown exclusively by TV Brasil features a chat by the host with personalities who made history in the seventh art, went beyond the borders of Africa and achieved international repercussion. The first guest is Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako.
Joel Zito’s conversations with directors from various countries on the continent are interspersed with scenes from these interviewees’ films. The series Encounters with African Cinema it also shows excerpts from other films mentioned that are in the context of the dialogues.
“I understand this series as a vehicle to bring closer to the richness and diversity of African cinema, a great absence on our cinema and TV screens, and in the training of the vast majority of Brazilian filmmakers”, explains Joel Zito.
The production dedicates two programs to filmmakers from the continent who have become major global references in directing, Ethiopian Haile Gerima and Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako. In three editions, the series contemplates Lusophony by delving into the cinema of Portuguese-speaking countries: Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde.
“I believe that cinema, in its different genres, such as series, is a gateway to discovering the soul of a people, a country and even a continent. Encounters with African Cinema also seeks to fulfill this role: to increase our knowledge about Africa through its cinematic history”, defines the person responsible for the series.
A reference in black cinema, Joel Zito encourages debate and the relationship between cultures. The work that gets its first window in TV Brasil It also seeks, indirectly, to show the links between Brazilian seventh art and cinema made by Africans on the continent and the diaspora.
Brasília (DF) 01/11/2024 Premiere of the documentary series Encontros com o Cinema Africano, a work created, directed and presented by filmmaker Joel Zito Araújo. Photo TV Brasil – Photo TV Brasil
Joel Zito
Director, screenwriter and producer, known for focusing on black people in Brazilian society, Joel Zito Araújo’s work includes the book and film The Denial of Brazil (2000), winner of the É Tudo Verdade Festival the following year.
The filmmaker made fictional features Daughters of the Wind (2005), winner of the Tiradentes Festival and 8 Kikitos at the Gramado Festival, and Rita’s Father (2022). Also produced the documents Cinderellas, Wolves and a Prince Charming (2009), Race (2013) and My Friend Fela (2019), with several international recognitions.
Joel Zito’s last works were the documentary series PCC – Secret Power (2022), for HBOMAX, and The Ethics of Silence (2023), for Canal Curta. He also won other awards such as 2022 Honored Screenwriter by the Brazilian Association of Screenwriters and the Eduardo Abelin trophy, at the Gramado Festival.
First episode
Considered the most influential filmmaker in contemporary Africa, Abderrahmane Sissako talks to Joel Zito in the series’ premiere program Encounters with African Cinema. The director chats with his friend about his works and his way of thinking about the seventh art.
Born in Mauritania, Abderrahmane Sissako migrated to Mali in 1962. The filmmaker was president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. Since 1991, he has directed 14 films and received 37 major awards in his career. One of his most recent productions, the drama “Timbuktu” (2014), won seven Caesars and competed for the Oscar for best foreign film in 2015.
Independent content
The documentary series Voz da Pele and Encontros com o Cinema Africano are presented by TV Brasil every Saturday from 11pm, in sequence, with alternative times during the early hours, from 4am. The productions are audiovisual content selected by the Audiovisual Sector Fund (FSA) funding line, through Prodav Public TVs.
THE TV Brasil It is one of the channels that shows the most national independent content. In addition to being a great supporter of the production of attractions of this nature in the country’s audiovisual market, the broadcaster encourages new filmmakers.
Prodav
Prodav is a partnership between the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE) and Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) to encourage regional and independent production.
The proposal is to offer this content to public television stations. EBC distributes the material by making the works available to all public television channels that join the project.
