Thursday, December 3, 2015
7:00-9:00 PM
State Theater, 233 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI
Directed by Hilton Lacerda (Brazil, 2013) 110min
Introduction by Professor Larry La Fountain-Stokes (University of Michigan)
The Brazilian military dictatorship lasted more than 20 years, from 1964 to 1985, and withstood several waves of youthful rebellion, usually by cracking down on cultural movements that threatened to get out of hand (in 1969, for example, singer-songwriters Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso were imprisoned and subsequently sent into exile). By the mid 1970s it was possible for an anarchist theatre group to emerge in suburban Recife and put on subversive, queer, avant-garde cabaret shows, just so long as it stayed underground and criticism of the military remained implicit. Clécio (Irandhir Santos) is director of just such a group: The Star-Spangled Floor. But, when mild mannered soldier Fininha (Jesuíta Barbosa) is drawn into the uninhibited world of the cabaret, and gradually acknowledges his attraction to Clécio, it becomes harder and harder to keep these parallel and mutually uncomprehending spheres apart. Hilton Lacerda’s debut is both a colorful time capsule and a potent drama that has earned comparisons to the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Adapted from Palm Springs International Film Festival). Co-sponsored by: Brazil Initiative / Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies • LSA • International Institute • African Studies Center • Department of Afro-American and African Studies • Institute for the Humanities • Department of Romance Languages and Literatures • Sheldon Cohn Fund / Department of Screen Arts and Cultures • Center for European Studies.
