Women’s Cinema, Feminisms, and Dictatorship in Brazil

This article focuses on Brazilian women filmmakers who made films during the civil-military dictatorship, in a markedly masculine cultural space and a political repression context. Their films raised questions of transnational feminism about the “feminine condition,” relating to marriage, sexuality, and pleasure. The racial issue did not escape from the lens of some of them. With their works, these filmmakers resisted the military regime, denouncing the violence of state and facing its political-moral project, which dictated customs and behaviors. Addressing them allows us to broaden the Women’s History in Brazil and offer another perspective on cultural resistance during the period.

Keywords:
Brazilian women filmmakers; Transnational feminism; Dictatorship; Morality; Women’s Cinema