Taboo and Totem

This programme presents two films that work against traditional modes of perception to offer vastly different visions of Brazil. Arthur Omar’s Triste Trópico [Sad Tropics] follows a doctor’s travels from Brazil to Paris and back again, where he connects with the traditions of Indigenous messianism. This singular film reconfigures the grammar of cinema through a layered tapestry of ethnographic texts, images and artefacts.

Pedro Neves Marques’ Semente Exterminadora [Exterminator Seed] emerges in a different register, but is similarly aimed at generating a revolution in perceptual habits. The film approaches Indigenous knowledges as a radical means of reconceiving the relationship between humans and their environment in the twenty-first century.

Pedro Neves Marques, Semente Exterminadora [Exterminator Seed], Portugal/Brazil 2017, 4K transferred to HD video, colour, sound, 29 min, Portuguese with English subtitles

Arthur Omar, Triste Trópico [Sad Tropics], Brazil 1974, 35mm, colour, sound, 77 min, Portuguese with English subtitles

The screening is followed by a discussion with Pedro Neves Marques and an audience Q&A.