Framing Recife

Film Geographies in Contemporary Cinema from Pernambuco

Abstract

In contemporary times, investigations that prioritize approaches such as film and culture have become essential to (re)think space from the perspective of its subjective character, considering the “symbolic codes” involved. Film, in this context, is both a rich and valid object for the analysis of the discourse on the concept of place, and enables the emergence of new spatial typologies, considering that cinema, for example, is a medium capable of constructing and producing new spaces/places through the production of diverse visualizations of these. In general, the urban scene in films directed by filmmakers from Pernambuco has a recurring theme: the city of Recife-PE and the contrast between its historical and colonial past and the present marked by the city’s growing urban expansion; verticalization associated with real estate speculation – which occurs simultaneously with the mobilization and demands of social groups and civil society movements, organized around discussions involving speculation in urban space and the right to the city. Thus, place (Recife) in films such as Rat Fever (Claudio Assis, 2012), Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012) and Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2016) is at the center of their narratives.