ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 I provided a contextualisation for contemporary film culture in Brazil, looking at key elements of film policy and highlighting a number of issues relating to making, exhibiting and viewing films. While the picture presented was ostensibly one of relatively healthy statistics in terms of Brazilian films beings produced and viewed in the second decade of the twenty-first century, I now want to look in more detail at the films that are engaging with both domestic and international audiences, with a focus on some of the caveats hinted at in relation to these supposedly healthy statistics. The chapter is divided into two parts: part one examines two phenomena connected to box-office success in the domestic film market: popular comedies and films aimed at particular religious groups. The second part focuses on the performance of Brazilian films on the global film circuit, and in particular the film festival circuit.
