Experimenting post-colonial film landscapes: A conversation with Ana Vaz

Abstract

Ana Vaz, born in Brasília, Brazil, in 1986, is one of the most notorious Brazilian experimental filmmakers working today. Her films were shown at festivals and institutions such as: Berlinale Forum Expanded, New York Film Festival, TIFF Wavelengths, Cinéma du Réel, Flaherty Seminar, Tate Modern, Palais de Tokyo, Jeu de Paume, etc. Her body of work narrates stories hidden in lost memories of colonial landscapes. By exploring multi-temporalities, her films reflect the borderland experience – be it the borders between Brazil and Europe; art gallery and movie theater; poetry and cinema, or between humans and non-humans. In addition, her movies are the result of meaningful dialogue with the greatest thinkers of our time, such as: Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, Jacques Derrida, Viveiros de Castro, David Kopenawa, João Guimarães Rosa, and Clarice Lispector. Departing from a pedagogy of "walk and listen”, we invite readers to explore Ana Vaz's counter-cinema.

Keywords

• Experimental cinema
• Brazilian cinema
• Poetry cinema
• Avant-gard cinema
• Postcolonial cinema