Joel Zito Araújo

A Negação do Brasil

Joel Zito Araújo

Joel Zito Araújo, João Acaiabe

A documentary film about the taboos, stereotypes, and struggles of black actors in Brazilian television "soaps". Based on his own memories and on a sturdy body of research evidence, the director analyses race relations in Brazilian soap operas, calling attention to their likely influence on Brazilian African-Americans' identity-forming processes.

Cinderelas, Lobos e um Príncipe Encantado

Joel Zito Araújo

Around 900 thousand people are trafficked a year for international borders only for sexual exploitation. However, despite all the dangers, young Brazilian women to enter the world of sex tourism, believe that they will change their lives and their dream of finding a Charming Prince. A minority find a great love and get married. The film goes from the Brazilian Northeast to Berlin seeking to understand the sexual as well racial imaginary and power of young southern Cinderellas and northern wolves.

Mussum: Um Filme do Cacildis

Susanna Lira

Lázaro Ramos, Mussum

The trajectory of musician and comedian Mussum as vocalist of the group "Os Originais do Samba" and later in cinema and TV as a member of "Os Trapalhões", a group that revolutionized the way of making humor on Brazilian television.

Meu Amigo Fela

Joel Zito Araújo

Fela Kuti, Carlos Moore

Most often portrayed as an eccentric African pop idol of the ghetto, Fela is rarely presented as the strong political leader he was. Through the eyes his close friend and official biographer, the African-Cuban intellectual Carlos Moore, this documentary is devoted to unravel the complexity of Fela’s life. As the story unfolds, it reveals the glories and tragedies that shaped the lives of the pan-African generation as well as Fela's.

Pitanga

Camila Pitanga, Beto Brant

Antônio Pitanga, Camila Pitanga

This documentary investigates the aesthetic, political and existential trajectory of emblematic Black Brazilian actor Antônio Pitanga. He career spans over five decades, and he has worked with iconic Brazilian filmmakers Glauber Rocha, Cacá Diegues and Walter Lima Jr. He was a prominent figurehead and outspoken activist during the Brazilian dictatorship, a period of unrest in Brazilian cinema. Pitanga deep dives into the world of Antônio and the history of Brazil. The documentary was directed by his daughter Camila Pitanga, one of widely recognised faces in Brazilian television and cinema right now. The film is also a poem, and a tender ode to fatherhood.

Raça

Joel Zito Araújo, Megan Mylan

Netinho, Paulo Paim

Documentary on ethnic relations in Brazil.

Filhas do Vento

Joel Zito Araújo

Ruth de Souza, Léa Garcia

É uma lírica história de redenção amorosa entre irmãs, mães e filhas, em uma pequena cidade do interior de Minas Gerais, onde os fantasmas da escravidão e do racismo acentuam os dramas de forma sutil e poderosa.

O Pai da Rita

Joel Zito Araújo

Francisco Gaspar, Paulo Betti

Roque and Pudim, composers from the old school of Vai-Vai, share a kitchnete, decades of friendship, love for their samba school and a doubt about the past: what happened to dancer Rita, their passion. The emergence of Ritinha, the dancer's daughter, threatens to collapse this great friendship.

O Pai da Rita

Joel Zito Araújo

Adriana Tanikawa, Elisa Lucinda

Roque and Pudim, composers from the old school of Vai-Vai, share a kitchnete, decades of friendship, love for their samba school and a doubt about the past: what happened to dancer Rita, their passion. The emergence of Ritinha, the dancer's daughter, threatens to collapse this great friendship.

Vista Minha Pele

Joel Zito Araújo

Maria Ceiça, Ailton Graça

"Vista Minha Pele" is an amusing parody of Brazilian reality. It serves as basic material for discussing racism and prejudice in the classroom. In this inverted story, blacks are the ruling class and whites were enslaved. Poor countries are Germany and England, while rich countries are, for example, South Africa and Mozambique. Maria is a poor white girl who studies at a private school thanks to the scholarship that she has due to the fact that her mother is a cleaning lady at this school. Most of her colleagues are hostile to her, because of her color and social status, with the exception of her friend Luana, the daughter of a diplomat who, having lived in poor countries, has a more comprehensive view of reality.

Memórias de Classe

Joel Zito Araújo

Javert Monteiro

Documentary about the daily life and struggle of workers from the 1930s generation in Brazil. Told through the memories of a feminist and four union members, the film shows the different faces of the workers' organization experience at that time, from Vargas' influence to communism, culminating in the common trait of their relationship with the workers' bases.

A Exceção e a Regra

Joel Zito Araújo

The film investigates how allegations of racism are handled by the Brazilian justice, reporting the unprecedented story of persistence and dignity of a black man: Vicente do Espírito Santo became an exceptional case for being the first victim of racism to break the siege and arriving victoriously at the Superior Labor Court and at Rede Globo's prime time.

Referências

Zózimo Bulbul

Zózimo Bulbul, Haroldo Costa

Homens de Rua

Joel Zito Araújo

The film is close to the experiences of men and women forced to survive on the streets of São Paulo in the early 1990s, a time of deteriorating living conditions for workers, high unemployment and increasing urban poverty. Between approaching the problem as something structural and a sensitive look at the characters, the documentary portrays the lives of people who lost their work, distanced themselves from their affections and saw their identity disintegrate.

Retrato em Preto e Branco

Joel Zito Araújo

Guilherme Sant'Anna

The documentary is structured as a video letter from a black man denouncing the persistence of racism in Brazilian society and media, a century after the official end of slavery. Thus, it presents the contradictions between two images of racial relations in Brazil: the image disseminated abroad, which spreads the myth of racial democracy, and the internal image, presented in textbooks and on television, in which negative stereotypes are perpetuated against the black population.

Eu, Mulher Negra

Joel Zito Araújo

Ruth de Souza

Prepared by the team of the Program for Training Black Researchers, The video brings together images and voices that talk about the reproductive health of black women, diseases taking into account the racial/ethnic background, habits, customs, the physical and social environment and the inhuman conditions imposed by racism.