Film History, Latin America and the Transatlantic Circulation of Knowledge

Film history, Latin America and the transatlantic circulation of knowledge: Paulo Emílio Salles Gomes’ international network

Head: Dr. Ricardo Borrmann

Funding: Central Research Department (ZF) of the University of Bremen

This project examines the role of Latin American intellectuals and transatlantic knowledge circulation in film history by reconstructing the international network of the Brazilian film critic Paulo Emílio Salles Gomes (1916-1977). It thus problematizes fixed ideas in cultural history such as “transfer” and “influence”.

Based on Sales Gomes’ transnational network, this project examines the circulation of film collections and knowledge through the impact of Latin American intellectuals and their networks in film history, especially in the development of film libraries and film archives as places of preservation and mediation of film memory.

How eagerly did Latin Americans from his circle engage in the transatlantic debates that led to the spread of film culture in the 20th century? How far-reaching was Salles Gome’s international network? What influence did such intellectual networks have on his work as a film critic? In the search for answers to these questions, film history will be examined from his transatlantic perspective and a new view of the cultural history of Latin America will be developed, focusing on critics, the exchange of film stocks and international networks.

Against this background, the hypothesis is that Latin American film critics not only actively participated in the transnational debate that led to the worldwide dissemination of a new film culture with its own institutions such as museums and archives, but that they also played a significant role in its development. The network of Salles Gomes is analyzed here as a paradigmatic case for observing this transatlantic circulation of film and knowledge in film history.

The project requires close collaboration between the fields of Latin American history and film studies, which will be facilitated by the cooperation between Pro. Dr. González de Reufels and Prof. Dr. Winfried Pauleit within the framework of the ZeMKI. Against this background, this project can benefit from existing collaborations and at the same time contribute to the expansion of research in the field of Latin American cultural and film history and Brazilian studies.