Brazil’s Nicho54 Institute launches Cinemateca Negra (lit. Black Brazilian Cinematheque), a unique publication integrating data on Brazilian black cinema. The publication, released globally by Cannes’ Marché du Film, maps more than 1,000 films made by Black filmmakers from 1949 to 2022 and features a wealth of reviews, interviews, and data aimed at combating the historical erasure of Black creators in the country and encouraging public policies that support Black filmmakers.
“Despite still facing deep historical inequalities when it comes to investment and recognition,[our]research proves the strength of 70 years of black creativity,” said Fernanda Lomba, filmmaker and founder of Nico54, a collective organization dedicated to strategically strengthening the black presence in Brazil’s audiovisual industry through talent development, research and institutional support. “Our hope is to establish partnerships that will help foster this memory and the preservation of these films and foster a healthier business for the next generation of Black filmmakers,” Lomba added.
Lomba will be joining Marché along with curator Bethany Maia and producer Rubien Melo. Nicho54 is also in Cannes to strengthen its internationalization efforts, launching the fifth edition of Sala 54, a digital platform exclusive to the international industry and dedicated to promoting arthouse films directed by black Brazilian filmmakers. The launch of the latest edition of Sala 54 marks the first partnership between Nicho 54 and Cannes’ Pavilion Afronova, dedicated to promoting creativity from the African continent and diaspora.
“Since the inception of Nicho54, we have been keen to establish cooperation with African initiatives,” Lomba said. “This year’s collaboration with Pavilion Afronova in Cannes is a strategic move that has been developing for many years, betting on cooperation that goes beyond an obvious sense of common identity. We now have a commercial and artistic thrust to strengthen the cultural and economic bonds between black Brazil, Africa and the European diaspora.”
Last month, Lomba met with “In the Shadow of the Father” director Akinola Davis Jr. at the Projeto Paradiso National Talent Network gathering in Recife, reinforcing Nico54’s desire to continue expanding international collaborations with African filmmakers. “‘Shadow of the Father’ brings to Brazil a poetic and honest experience of masculinity, especially black masculinity. Akinola bravely and generously weaves together a wonderful patchwork of memories, personal life and Nigerian history. We have much to learn from this filmmaker’s gentle radicalism[in Brazil],” she added at the time.
Nicho54 describes Sala54’s initiative as “a fusion of selective curation with the growing international demand for stories of the Brazilian diaspora.” Originally conceived as a streaming platform for films selected for the Nicho Film Festival, it is now aiming for a global stage.
Nicho54 curator Maia said that presenting Sala54 at the Cannes Film Festival “celebrates Nicho’s international bridges.” “This platform aims to place Black Brazilian cinema in a competitive position in the international audiovisual industry by understanding the importance of supporting the global circulation of Black stories. Sala54’s curation policy understands Black thinking as multiple and in motion, Built in a collaborative way. In establishing curation as the main selection criterion, the platform aims to creatively liberate black creators in building narratives and create an environment that reflects the diversity of black perspectives in the Brazilian audiovisual industry,” she said. concluded.
