Cinemateca Brasileira, the largest film archive in South America and one of the most important cinematheques in Latin America, is facing a complex crisis that threatens its collection and its posterity - largely as a result of Brazil’s federal governmental assault on the arts and cultural institutions.
Located in the Vila Leopoldina district of São Paulo, the Cinemateca has been suffering a slow and continual weakening of its institutional basis for the past several years. In 2013, the organization was taken over by the Ministry of Culture, the latter dismissing the Cinemateca’s ruling board and removing its operational autonomy. In 2016, a fire — the fourth in the history of the institution — destroyed over a thousand film reels, and this past February, the installations were affected by severe flooding.
In one of the latest blows to its survival, the Cinemateca has not to date received any federal funds for its operating budget for the current year - a number in the order of approximately $2 million USD. The institution has not been able to pay salaries or fund basic conservation equipment or supplies, and is now facing bankruptcy.
In the past few days, an international petition was launched online to activate global awareness on the severe problems the Cinemateca is now facing and to ask for support. The petition has been signed by over 13,000 people including filmmakers Carlos Diegues, Walter Salles, João Dumans, and Kleber Mendonça Filho.
In an odd twist, Brazilian president Jaír Bolsonaro mentioned on May 20 that Regina Duarte, who had just resigned as Secretary of Culture for personal reasons after a short stint of less of three months, would take on the role of the Director of the cinematheque. However, local press has reported that the government is hoping to close the afflicted institution.
Established in 1949 as part of the film department of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo and incorporated as a government entity in 1984, the mission of the Cinemateca Brasileira is to preserve Brazil’s audiovisual productions. It has the largest film collection in South America, composed of around 250,000 film reels, and more than one million archival documents related to Brazil’s cinema history, including photos, scripts, posters and books.
