RENATO TAPAJÓS
RENATO
TAPAJÓS
Born in Belém do Pará in 1943, Renato began his career as a journalist in São Paulo, until he became involved in the armed resistance against the military coup of 1964. In 1969 he was arrested by Operation Bandeirantes, where he was brutally tortured and spent 5 years in prison. After leaving prison, he launched the novel "Em Câmara Lenta" and later became an important political documentarist who registered great events in the workers' movement from the 70s until today.
Laboratório Cisco has been taking care of Renato's work since 2005, when we participated in the restoration of the feature film "Linha de Montagem". We became producers of his most recent films and have all his filmography safely archived in our collection. Today we are responsible for licensing the works and assigning rights. We are aware of the richness and power of his films, which is why we take such good care of his work.
If you are interested in researching, exhibiting or licensing Renato's work, please contact us.
FILMOGRAFIA
Vila da Barca
DOC, 10 min, 1964
Documentary about a community that lives on stilts, on the banks of the Pará River, on the outskirts of Belém do Pará. A resident talks, in his own unique language, about the lives of the residents of Vila da Barca, highlighting the coexistence theywith the mud, which is exposed when the tide goes out
Awards and Exhibitionss:Preawarded Best Documentary at the Leipzig Film Festival (Germany, 1968)
University in crisis
DOC, 19 min, 1966
Documentary that records the beginning of the student movement at the USP Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, the violent response to the dictatorship's repression and the growth of strikes and student demonstrations. The film seeks to understand how student radicalization was a response to the government's intention to transform the teaching model in the country, although, at that time, the students' fighting capacity was still weak.
One Percent
DOC, 19 min, 1967
Documentary that deals with the question of “surpluses” in the entrance examination of USP colleges in the 1960s. Surpluses were students who, although approved in the entrance exam, did not obtain a place in the courses they had chosen, and therefore could not be enrolled. In 1967, the “surpluses” of the USP Faculty of Philosophy began a struggle to be enrolled and received support from other students, who went on strike and held demonstrations, denouncing the country's educational system and demanding reforms.
Weekend
DOC, 31 min, 1976
Medium-length documentary about self-construction and mutirão construction on the outskirts of São Paulo. The salary doesn't work. The worker is obliged to build his house, on weekends, with his workforce and the help of relatives and friends. The work thus expended willadd to the exploitation to which he is subjected, increase the added value that is extracted from him. And that way he builds his house, his neighborhood and expands thecityIt is.
Awards and Exhibitionss:preawarded as best film at the V Jornada Brasileira of the short film, Salvador, Bahia (1976).
A Common Case
DOC, 21 min, 1978
Short documentary (with some fictional inserts) about the health conditions of the working population in the east zone of São Paulo, produced for the Pastoral de Saúde da Zona Leste II. Centered on a couple who have a small daughter, the film shows how poor housing and sanitation conditions, as well as low wages, contribute to the spread of disease, without adequate infrastructure for medical care.
Work Accident
DOC, 22 min, 1977
Short documentary made for the São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema Metalworkers' Union, showing the issue of work accidents from the workers' point of view.
Awards and Exhibitionss: awarded Best Social Research Film at the VI Brazilian Journey of Curtthe Film, Salvador, Bahia (1977)
Metallurgical Workers
DOC, 17 min, 1978
The Documentary shows the female participation and influence in the great strikes in the ABC Paulista region, which took place in the late 1970s. Written and directed by Olga Futemma in partnership with Renato Tapajós, the film starts with the realization of congress of women metallurgists and is magnetized by the voices of the workers, who convert it into a territory of expression.
A Cloudy Day
DOC, 11 min, 1979
Medium-length documentary about the strike that metallurgical workers from São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema carried out from March 1979. The film shows the large assemblies held at the Vila Euclides Stadium, bringing together around 120,000 workers under the leadership of Lula , president of the Union, the largest union assemblies so far held in Brazil. Even with the police repression, with the arrest for a few days of the union board, the workers did not back down and managed, after two months, a victory over the intransigence of the bosses and the government, making the war cry that emerged in the assemblies come true : "A united worker will never be defeated".
The People's Struggle
DOC, 30 min, 1980
Starting from the burial of the worker Santo Dias da Silva, the film addresses the labor movement between 1978 and 1980; movements such as Movement against High Starvation, Movement of Favelas, Movement of Health, Struggle of the squatters of Vale da Ribeira, the First of May of 1979, strike of the metallurgists of São Bernardo do Campo in 1980, ending with the 1st of May of 1980.
Awards and Exhibitionss:Awarded at the Jornada Brasileira de Short Film, 1981, Salvador – BA.
CUT by Base
DOC, 21 min, 1982
The documentary CUT pela base, filmed at the time, is a record of the debates surrounding the formation of the Central at a time of reorganization of the working class and social movements repressed by the military dictatorship. Thousands of workers, from the countryside and the city, representing different union categories, gathered in São Bernardo do Campo (SP), at the National Congress of the Working Class (CONCLAT) – a meeting that would become a historic milestone for Brazilian union policy . At that event, the Central Única dos Trabalhadores, CUT. was founded
Assembly Line
DOC, 88 min, 1983
Feature-length documentary about the process of mobilization and organization of workers in the ABC region of São Paulo, which resulted in the strikes of 1979 and 1980, in the founding of the Workers' Party and the CUT, marking the emergence of the national political leadership of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva.
Awards and Exhibitions:Selected for the Youth Forum at the Berlin Film Festival in 1984.
In the Name of National Security
DOC, 47 min, 1985
Documentary about the National Security Doctrine, the ideological basis of the Brazilian dictatorship, showing the effects of the National Security Law on the population. In 1983, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of São Paulo organizes the Tiradentes Court, a mock trial of the National Security Law, a narrative base to which fictional scenes and archival materials are added. The film is part of the fight for the repeal of the National Security Act.
Awards and Exhibitions:Best Film Award at the International Documentary Festival in Oberhausen, Germany (1985) and Coral Award for Best Documentary at the 7th International Film Festival in Havana, Cuba (1985).
Nothing Will Be Like Before... Nothing?
DOC, 43 min, 1985
Documentary about the participation of the left and left-wing filmmakers in the main political events of the early 1980s, including the first PT election campaign (1984). A personal questioning by the director about the relationship between theoretical promises and political practice. An emotional journey through the high hopes, the dream and the not always so generous reality.
Awards and Exhibitions:Glauber Rocha Award for Best Film at the XIV Journey of Cinema of Bahia (1985).
Humiliation and Pain
DOC, 32 min, 1986
Documentary on the issue of torture of common prisoners and the death penalty in Brazil, produced for the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of São Paulo. Several people set out their positions on torture and the death penalty. Other interviews are made with people who have a clear position on the subject: Cardinal D. Paulo Evaristo Arns, actor António Fagundes, political scientist Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, journalist Percival de Souza and delegate Roberto Genofre. In parallel, the story is told of a young marginal who is arrested, tortured and forced to commit crimes that benefit some police officers.
History of Health Policies in Brazil
DOC, 41 min, 1990
Documentary about health policies in Brazil, from the beginning of the 20th century until the 90's. The film shows how public health, which was completely abandoned by the State in the first decades, is increasingly being taken over by it, even it is unable to provide quality medical care. The Constitution's proposal that “health is everyone's right and the State's duty” is still far from being implemented.
The Hunger Production
DOC, 19 min, 1994
A television team goes out into the streets of Brazil to discover the reasons for the hunger affecting 32 million people (this in 1994) in Brazil. How hungry is this? What are your causes? What is the commitment to the future? How to end her? What does Brazil produce and how much? Waste and the political causes of hunger? Testimonials by filmmaker Renato Tapajós and journalist Florestan Fernandes Jr.
Social Exclusion
DOC, 19 min, 1995
It addresses the various types of exclusion suffered by the elderly, women, homosexuals, blacks and the physically disabled. Through testimonials and reports, the documentary portrays the exclusion to which a large portion of the Brazilian population is subjected that does not fit the established standards. The documentary shows one of the biggest problems in our society and gives an idea of the consequences suffered by the excluded.
Cultivating The Earth With Nature
DOC, 18 min, 1994
The video addresses cultivation done without chemical fertilization, which uses natural techniques - green fertilization, intercropping and crop rotation, dead and live cover, natural insecticides and others - which do not weaken the earth, leave the soil alive and rich, provide autonomy to the producer and do not affect human health.
The Face In The Mirror
DOC, 60 min, 2009
A documentary that investigates the relationship between today's cultural movements and social transformation, revealing a deep and multicultural Brazil, usually ignored by the media and prejudiced by the dominant culture. The film is also the personal journey of the documentary filmmaker who is surprised by the nascent strength of Indian, black and caboclo communities that rebuild their identities and reclaim their voices.
The End of Oblivion
DOC, 55 min, 2012
The film looks for characters who participated in the Tiradentes Court and others who stood out in the fight for Human Rights, to return to the issue of the National Security Doctrine, after three decades. It investigates the remnants of that doctrine today, addresses the attempt by the ruling classes, after the military left power, to promote the forgetting of the serious facts that occurred during the dictatorship and finds that, finally, forgetting is being fought by several institutions and people, especially by young people.
Awards and Exhibitions: World Premiere - It's All True Festival 2013
Brésil en Mouvements - Paris; 18th Florianópolis Audiovisual Mercosul (FAM 2014);
4th ARGENTINA FICiP (International Political Film Festival); Brasile in Movimenti à l'Università di Modena Reggio Emilia LampedusaInFestival, Italy; FEST'AFILM - Le festival du film lusophone et francophone from Montpellier, France; Human Rights Cine - Memory, Truth and Justice Cycle - Itaú Cinema Space at Shopping Frei Caneca.
The Battle of Maria Antonia
DOC, 72 min, 2013
In 1968, on Rua Maria Antônia in São Paulo, there was a confrontation between students from the USP Faculty of Philosophy and students from the Mackenzie Faculty. Noit was a simple student fight, but almost a miniature reproduction of the Cold War that was then raging between left and right.
Awards and Exhibitiontions: Tiradentes International Film Festival; 33rd INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC FESTIVAL OF URUGUAY; 5th FICiP - International Political Film Festival of Argentina
Straight cut
FIC, 90 min, 2014
On August 31, 1969, in São Paulo, five militants from the armed left who fought against the military dictatorship were arrested by Operation Bandeirantes (OBAN). For the next few days, they would live out the nightmare of torture, experiencing a week of sheer terror as the military, police and paramilitaries unleashed the very worst of the human capacity to inflict pain and humiliation.
Factory Floor
DOC, 72 min, 2013
Chão de Fábrica" is a film about the history of the new Brazilian unionism. It begins with the great strikes of 1979/1980, which took place on ABC, in São Paulo. This story is told through vast archival material, bycurrent footage at the factories and in the field, by interviews with experts and interviews with trade unionists. The narrator who tells this story is José de Abreu.
Left in trance
DOC, 78 min, 2018
After fourteen years governing the country, Brazil's largest leftist party was forced out of power in 2016, in an impeachment process considered by many to be a "white coup d'état". The process hit left-wing parties and social movements directly and placed them in the firing line of conservatism. And now? How are these groups going to position themselves from this moment on? What are intellectuals and artists thinking and writing? Esquerda em Transe is a cinematographic opera, a musical version of the events that shook the country and the left in 2016.
