The First International Film Festival of Brazil (1954)

Abstract

The 1st International Film Festival of Brazil (1954) was Brazil’s attempt to participate in the international circuit of film festivals that gained momentum in Europe after the Second World War. Conceived as part of the celebrations of the 4th Centenary of the city of São Paulo, the festival was based on the model of the festivals of Cannes, Venice, Brussels (1947) and Knokke Le Zoute (1949). Deepening the lessons of European festivals, the Brazilian event harmonized in its programming samples of commercial focus and cultural retrospectives, but the failure of local commercial expectations and the success of cultural programs crystallized the perception, among part of the critics and chroniclers, that art and the market were arranged in opposite poles, in which commercial exhibitions had been neglected vis-à-vis retrospectives and cultural activities. By historically analyzing the case of the festival, we will see how its commercial failure and uniqueness resulted directly from the economic crisis that hit the country and the local film industry, demonstrating that the opposition between art and commerce actually reflects disputes between US and European cinematographies. We will also see that the vitality of cultural programs was fundamental for the good repercussion the event had in foreign criticism, avoiding the complete failure of the initiative.