On Brazilian independent cinema:

An introdutory account

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate major changes in the concept of Brazilian independent cinema. though it refers primarily to a mode of production that is alternative to that of the so-called industrial cinema, the term independent cinema often refers to both an aesthetics and a means of production, distribution and exhibition which vary throughout the history of the film industry in Brazil, with different ways to relate with the State and with its own antithesis - the mainstream cinema (both American and Brazilian manstream films). While analyzing the Brazilian independent cinema as a strategy of affirmation in opposition to the mainstream or the dominance of the Brazilian film market by big-budget film production, it is necessary to reflect upon this category (independence) by taking into account a complex set of articulations, to finally admit its fluidity and complexity, as well as its relevance in the history of Brazilian cinema.