ABSTRACT
The inspiration for writing this book comes in large part from a curiosity regarding the impact of the PT (Workers Party) government (2003–2016) on cultural policy and production in Brazil. When I first pitched the idea for the book to Routledge in 2014, I noted that much had changed over the course of the twenty-first century in relation to film culture in the country. This claim still holds true, but in ways that I could not have imagined at the time, given the deep economic crisis into which Brazil has been plunged, and the abrupt end to Workers Party rule. As originally planned, this book seeks to chart the key changes of the first two decades of the twenty-first century, including: the latest cultural debates within Brazil on film funding and distribution practices; the impact of diversity politics on the Brazilian film industry; the reception and circulation of Brazilian films on the international film festival circuit; the impact of new modes of exhibition on viewing practices; the representation of Brazil by foreign film-makers; and the role of the mighty Globo media corporation in the latest boom in production. But it will also examine the impact on cultural production of the sharp change in political direction at national level experienced post-2016 and the parliamentary coup that brought about the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff.
