The renewal of the interview in Iracema and Retrato de uma paisagem

Abstract

After highlighting the complexity of Iracema (1974) and some possibilities for tackling the film in the introduction, we move on to an investigation of its practice of cinéma-vérité in the Amazon rainforest, through the adoption of creative protocols that allow for the establishment of a fruitful short-circuit between the film crew, the few actors recruited to the project and the surrounding subjects. In this paper, I'm mainly interested in the performance of Paulo César Pereio, whose participation updates the practice of the interview in the documentary tradition, indicating new ways of using this expedient. I conclude the paper with a brief study of the documentary Retrato de uma paisagem (2012), by Pedro Diógenes, based on the assumption that there are affinities between its protagonists (Pereio, on the one hand, and Tavinho Teixeira, on the other) and the works, a kind of kinship.