12.07.11 Vortrag + Film: Consuelo Lins – The appropriation of archival images in the contemporary documentary

The appropriation of archival images in the contemporary documentary

Vortrag + Film: Nannies (Consuelo Lins, Brasilien, 2010, 20 Min.)

Consuelo Lins is a Brazilian filmmaker, as well as professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She received a PhD from Université Paris 3 (Sorbonne Nouvelle), having written her dissertation on documentary films, focusing on the work of Robert Kramer. In 1999, she directed Chapéu Mangueira e Babilônia: Histórias do Morro, a documentary on the history and daily life of two slums located in the neighborhood of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. In 2001, Julliu´s Bar, a film centered on transvestites from the peripheral areas of Rio which was selected to participate in several festivals, including the Brazilian Competition of the International Documentary Film Festival É Tudo Verdade (It’s All True). She worked with Eduardo Coutinho, considered the leading Brazilian documentary filmmaker, in the feature-length films Babilônia 2000 (2001) and Edifício Master (2002). In 2005, she directed Lectures, a documentary short entirely shot with a mobile phone, exhibited in many festivals and winner of the Best Brazilian Short Film Award at the International Festival of Short Films of Belo Horizonte. In 2009, Leituras Cariocas, shown in several festivals and recipient of an Honorable Mention in the Brazilian Competition of É Tudo Verdade.
In 2010, she directed Nannies, which was selected to participate in several festivals, including DoK Leipzig and Interfilm Berlim. She writes regularly on cinema, video and television, having published, in 2004, a book on the work of Eduardo Coutinho and in 2008 another one on contemporary Brazilian documentary.

Nannies is a documentary film that combines autobiographical elements with a reflection on the presence of nannies in the daily life of countless Brazilian families, approaching a subject quite rare in contemporary audiovisual productions. The movie ponders upon a typically Brazilian situation in which affective bonds are genuine but incapable of dissolving layers of oppression — echoing some aspects of our historical past, namely the period of black slavery. With a subjective narration, the film incorporates photographs, domestic footage and newspaper adds from the 20th century, as well as contemporary images of nannies and children shot in the beaches and parks of Rio de Janeiro.