Rio, 40 Degrees

Rio, 40 Degrees played a role in Brazilian cinema similar to that of Buñuel’s Los olvidados in Mexican film. While Mexico already had an emerging auteur cinema within the studio system – led by Emilio “Indio” Fernández – independent filmmakers in Brazil could expect little support from the establishment. As a result, Pereira dos Santos and his collaborators were forced to make films almost guerrilla-style. Out of this independence soon emerged the most radical movement in Latin American cinema: Cinema Novo. Shot over nearly a year in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the film portrays the events of a single Sunday from the perspective of the city’s poorest residents. Inspired by Italian neorealism, Pereira dos Santos created a portrait of Rio that many Brazilians had never seen. Accompanied by the rhythms of samba, the film offers a rare glimpse of the real favelas of the 1950s.

Piotr Kobus

Nelson Pereira dos Santos (1928–2018) – Brazilian film director, one of the founding figures of Cinema Novo. His films portrayed the social and economic realities of Brazil, addressing issues of inequality, poverty, and identity. Combining influences of Italian neorealism with a distinctly local sensibility, he worked freely across forms, from documentary to fiction. His work had a lasting impact on the development of Latin American cinema.

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