Central do Brasil: identities and representations of the country in Brazilian cinema

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the understanding of representations of identity in Brazilian regions and population, namely questions of gender and literacy, shown through the national cinema in the 1990s. The object of this study is the renowned film Central do Brasil (1998), a melodramatic road movie directed by Walter Salles. Central do Brasil recreates social issues and inequalities and it is aimed to associate these representations with empirical data from that period, regarding alphabetisation, literacy and access to information and communication technologies. The regional themes depicted in cinema, alongside the production and distribution schemes from foreign companies, had a new stage of expansion since the 1990s. Nevertheless, regarding the overlook of cinema towards other kinds of entertainment in the country, it is intended to value cinema as relevant to the processes of globalisation and internationalisation of the Brazilian cultural industry, as well as important to study regional identities and cultures.