A produção documental de Antonio Olavo: lutas e memórias do povo negro

Abstract

The contribution of documentary film to the understanding of historical facts and contemporary causes has been confirmed in recent years with a significant production of films, on various themes. This article covers the work of Antonio Olavo, a filmmaker from the State of Bahia in Brazil, and director of five feature-length documentary films, a TV docuseries, and several short and medium-length films on social history and, in particular, content honoring the memory of the Black culture and history of Brazil. We seek to understand the professional trajectory of the filmmaker intertwined with his life story, the conceptions about cinematographic making, and the spheres of influences that are incorporated in his work. For this, we present his main films, highlighting the documentary series Travessias Negras (2017) which report on unique trajectories of students accepted in universities through affirmative action policies (know as "cotistas"), seeking references in narratives that are articulated in continuities and ruptures, showing meanings in face of the racial discrimination pattern that is present in the Brazilian society. We privilege the understanding of cinema and narrativity from authors such as Xavier (2003), Bernadet (2017), Benjamin (1994), Matos (2001), among others, and we used interviews with the filmmaker putting in perspective his perceptions about the historical resistance struggles, about discrimination, racism, affirmative policies, and Black cinema.