Curator words

At 2003 the Mostra de Cinema e Religião began in São Paulo as the first film exhibition of its kind in Brazil aiming to incite the perception of human diversity through the comprehension of the diversity of its believes.

In a time marked by the break of the subjective and hegemonic cultural models I perceive that religion is present today as one of the tools used by us in our strive to dominate the chain of events. Through religion we try to direct or minimize the harmful effects of what does not make sense in the natural world.

Brazil is a religious country with very peculiar characteristics embracing traditions such as Christian, Jewish, Afro-Brazilian, Brazilian-Indian and many others living on familiar terms with communication and syncretism. As many Brazilians, my great-grandmother was Brazilian-Indian and why not to mention she was a healer. Thus, flowing in my veins together with Italian Catholic origins my ancestors inspire my perception of the world.

Aiming to share light on the rich and complex aspects of whom we are, recognizing unknown identities considered through the effectiveness of image and the stories told through cinema I invite all of you to enjoy the rich program of this film exhibition.

César Sartorelli
Curator