Tragam-me a Cabeça de Carmen M.

The unrest in Brazil – where an extreme right-wing government recently took office – proves to be fertile subject matter for this colourful story. Ana, a Portuguese actress, has come to Rio de Janeiro to play the lead in a film about Carmen Miranda, the eccentric actress and singer who put Brazil on the map for its samba and carnival culture. The characters in the story come to life by alternating black-and-white and colour film, but they are at odds with each other as the myth clashes with everyday reality. Felipe Bragança and Catarina Wallenstein (who also plays the lead role) address a generation of Brazilians eagerly searching for a new identity. References to the Tropicalism art movement and the celebration of ‘cultural cannibalism’ – which arose in part as a form of resistance to the military junta of the late sixties – also play a prominent role in this tropical nightmare. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)