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According to its website, Mostra de Cinemas Africanos is proudly hailed as “The only festival exclusively dedicated to contemporary African cinemas in Brazil.” Established in 2018 by Brazilian cultural producer and researcher Ana Camila Esteves, alongside Spanish curator and researcher Beatriz Leal-Riesco, the festival emerged in response to the dearth of platforms showcasing newly released African films in the country. While other events in Brazil, including specific showcases and international film festivals, present a limited number of African films, MCA aimed to bridge this gap. The festival accomplishes this by bringing to Brazil all relevant titles previously featured at major international film festivals and other noteworthy films identified through the curators’ research.
Since 2019, the festival has primarily received funding from Sesc São Paulo, a Brazilian non-profit private institution supported by business leaders in the trade of goods, services, and tourism, with multiple branches across Brazil. This partnership ensures ongoing support and guarantees at least one edition of the festival each year. Moreover, MCA has expanded its reach by hosting screenings in various cities throughout the year.
In addition to film screenings, MCA is committed to fostering knowledge in the academic realm of African cinemas. The festival produces academic content in Portuguese, making it accessible to Brazilian students, scholars, and the Official Portuguese-speaking African countries. To date, the festival has published six catalogues, including one in e-book format, featuring contributions from scholars and film critics worldwide. MCA also maintains a website dedicated to critiques of African films and a memorial honoring Professor Mahomed Bamba, a pivotal scholar in African cinemas in Brazil who passed away in 2015.
Since 2022, MCA has been extending invitations to African filmmakers, film critics, and scholars to participate in the festival. Their roles include introducing films, hosting Q&A sessions, and facilitating debates and roundtable discussions with Brazilian counterparts. From its inaugural edition, MCA has formed partnerships with other African film festivals globally, engaging in the exchange of curatorial processes and film selections. In recent editions, the festival has aimed to collaborate more closely with African practitioners in various fields, hiring professionals from Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Kenya each year to contribute to the production of MCA.
We extend our sincere gratitude to Mostra de Cinemas Africanos for generously providing access for the trial of this methodology. Special thanks go to Dr. Ana Camila Esteves, the festival’s director, who played a pivotal role as our main contact during the invitation process to become a festival partner.
The selection of Mostra de Cinemas Africanos as part of our research sample was influenced by the project’s short duration and our prior knowledge and engagement with the festival. Dr. Ana Camila Esteves has been a close collaborator with both Dr. Sheila Petty and Dr. Estrella Sendra, having participated as a guest lecturer at their universities and as a partner in previous research projects. Dr. Petty and Dr. Sendra have also contributed to Mostra de Cinemas Africanos by writing publications for the festival’s catalogue and authorizing the Portuguese translation of previously published work. Their ongoing support aligns with the festival’s initiative to publish more content on African cinemas in Portuguese.
Dr. Esteves was invited to participate in the festivals and industry representatives panel at the virtual symposium on Transnational Screen Media Practices: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage, organized by Dr. Sheila Petty and Dr. Charity Marsh at the University of Regina from June 24-26, 2021. On that occasion, Dr. Esteves discussed the role of Mostra de Cinemas Africanos in promoting African films in Brazil.
Given Dr. Esteves’ interest and expertise in film festivals, especially those focused on African films, and considering her dual roles as a festival director and an academic, she joined our team as a Postdoc Associate Researcher in January 2023. Dr. Esteves was directly involved in implementing the Decolonial Tests at various stages of the research and conducted fieldwork in Canada, Senegal, and Brazil alongside other collaborators.
Having Dr. Ben Akoh and Dr. Ana Camila Esteves as part of the research team, both being festival directors, enriched the methodology discussion and trial by bringing diverse perspectives and bridging theoretical approaches with practical insights in the film festival field.
Mostra de Cinemas Africanos participated in this research from its 2022 edition, where all Decolonial Tests were conducted, to the 2023 edition, during which research collaborator Professor Gabriela Almeida, along with Dr. Ana Camila Esteves, conducted fieldwork in São Paulo.
The chart below outlines the researchers involved in the pilot implementation of this test at Mostra de Cinemas Africanos in 2022 and 2023.
Researchers: Prof Gabriela Almeida, Prof Sheila Petty, and Dr Estrella Sendra
Participants: Ben Akoh (guest festival director), Maimouna Jallow (guest filmaker), Marcelo Esteves (attendee)
02 October 2022 on Zoom
