Mulheres na produção cinematográfica amazonense

Abstract

The present dissertation seeks to understand how the process of female (in)visibility in Amazonian society occurs, having as its north the construction of the female gaze in cinematographic production in Amazonas. For this, a tour of the historiography of the State is carried out, firstly, through the high productivity cycles of cinema, pointing out the most prominent films and producers, as well as elements that lead to the interruption of this artistic process. Then, we also use the historical method in order to understand the vision of women in the region and scrutinize how this perspective is transposed to seventh art, including the feminist critical theory proposed by Laura Mulvey (1975), Ann Kaplan (1995), Joey Soloway (2016) and bell hooks (2019). All these steps make it possible for us to analyze nine films by Elen Linth, Izis Negreiros and Keila Sankofa – directors working in the last 15 years and at the main festivals and exhibitions in the region during this period –, in order to answer how Amazonian directors project themselves and if there is any a counter feminist cinema in the Amazon. The results indicate that cinema in Amazonas has a significant and majority participation of black women in projects with national and international reach; whose approach reveals universal themes, however particular to the region, indicating new paths and narratives for the construction of regional cinema.