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Tent of Miracles (1977); How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1972)

Tent of Miracles (1977)
May 3, 2013 - 7:30 pm

Tent of Miracles (Tenda dos milagres) (Brazil, 1977)

Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos

When a celebrated American anthropologist arrives in Rio to track down an obscure Brazilian sociologist, Pedro Archanjo, the local cultural and political elite clamor to join the Archanjo bandwagon. To their horror, they discover that Archanjo was a turn-of-the-century adherent of candomblé and an advocate of miscegenation as a means of social revolution. Framed as a film within a film, this brilliant and broad satire seamlessly blends political critique and entertainment.

Regina Filmes. Based on a novel by Jorge Amado. Screenwriter: Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Cinematographer: Hélio Silva. Editors: Raimundo Higino, Severino Dada. Cast: Hugo Carvana, Sonia Dias, Anecy Rocha, Jards Macalé, Juarez Paraiso. 

35mm, color, in Portuguese with English subtitles, 148 min.

How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Como era gostoso o meu francês) (Brazil, 1972)

"Pereira dos Santos's notorious anti-establishment allegory is still a pungent meal." — Slant Magazine

Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos

Nelson Pereira Dos Santos' masterful, ironic critique of colonialist discourse, past and present, draws from multiple historical sources—especially German explorer Hans Staden's 1557 memoir—to tell the story of a French soldier's experience as a captive of the cannibalistic Tupinambá tribe. Initiated into the tribe, the soldier looks for ways to exploit the tribe's resources even as they prepare him to be the main course in a ritual feast.

Condor Films. Producers: Nelson Pereira dos Santos, K.M. Eckstein, Cesar Thédim. Screenwriter: Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Cinematographer: Dib Lutfi. Editor: Carlos Alberto Camuyrano. Cast: Arduíno Colassanti, Ana Maria Magalhães, Eduardo Imbassahy, Manfredo Colassanti.

35mm; color; in Tupi, French and Portuguese with English subtitles; 84 min.