Brazilian filmmaker Orlando Senna passes away at 86
Los Angeles, June 12
Brazilian filmmaker Orlando Senna has passed away. He was 86. As per Variety, Orlando died on June 9 from pneumonia in Rio de Janeiro.
Senna reached everlasting fame as director with Jorge Bodanzky of 1974's "Iracema" ("Iracema: Uma Transa Amazonica"), a hard-hitting social realist feature sometimes ranked in lists of the best Brazilian films of all time.
It is sometimes cited as a high-profile title in Brazil's Cinema Novo, though in reality by that time the movement had pretty much run its course and the film is lightyears away from the style of, say, Glauber Rocha.
What it did share with earlier Cinema Novo movies was a sense of subversion and exposure of Brazil's gross poverty. It follows Iracema (Edna de Cassia), 14, who leaves her home in the Amazon to become a prostitute in Belem and hitches up with Tiao, a truck driver on a trip down the newly opened Trans-Amazonian Highway, which affords a portrait of ecological devastation and a hapless Indigenous population, as per Variety.
He also co-wrote Hector Babenco's feature debut "King of the Night," a withering portrait of 1920s-set toxic masculinity. Senna made his last film in 2020, "Longe do Paraiso."
By that time, he had won respect - and an outlet for his energy - as head from 1991-94 of Cuba's San Antonio de los Banos International School of Film and TV School, co-founded by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
He also served under Culture Minister Gilberto Gil as head of Brazil's National Audiovisual Secretariat from 2003-07 and as general director of TV Brasil, president of Television de America Latina between 2008 and 2015, as well as programming director for CineBrasil TV and advisor to São Paulo agency Spcine.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Sad to hear about Orlando Senna's passing. I watched "Iracema" during a film festival in Delhi – truly a masterpiece that exposed the dark side of development. The parallels with India's own struggles with displacement and ecological damage are striking. Rest in peace, sir. 🙏
Never heard of him before this news. But the way he documented social issues through cinema – reminds me of our own Satyajit Ray and the parallel cinema movement. It's a loss for world cinema. Hope future filmmakers learn from his courage.
Such an influential figure, not just for Brazil but for Latin American cinema as a whole. His work at the film school in Cuba, teaching the next generation – that's legacy building. We need more such visionaries in India's film education system.
Unfortunate passing. But I wonder why his later work didn't get as much attention. "Longe do Paraíso" (2020) was his last film – few even know about it. Perhaps the article could have mentioned his contributions to TV Brasil more, which shaped public broadcasting in Brazil. Rest in peace.
The way he showed the Amazon's exploitation – it's like our own forests being destroyed for "development." Also, the story of a 14-year-old girl forced into prostitution hits hard. Cinema Novo's spirit of questioning power is timeless. 😔
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.