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This chapter examines the role of the Brazilian state in women's filmmaking. In 1969, the Empresa Brasileiro de Filmes (Embrafilme) came into being during the most repressive years of the military regime. Originally created to promote and distribute Brazilian films abroad, Embrafilme was charged to oversee commercial and noncommercial film activities such as film festivals, the publication of film journals, and training of technicians. By the early 1980s, Embrafilme had become a vital source for independent, auteur cinema in Brazil and helped secure—but not sustain—women's place in the Brazilian film industry. Once the government took on a more supportive role in the film industry, contemporary women filmmakers began participating in filmmaking; however, women filmmakers in Brazil have conflicting opinions about the state-led agency and its role in supporting their careers as directors.

This chapter focuses on contemporary Brazilian film industry and studies how studio executives in transnational, national, and independent film corporations aim to justify their own positions based on their ability to tap into an authentic “Brazilian” identity. It examines how “Brazilianness” is expressed differently depending on the positions of the executives interviewed. The chapter lays down three overall objectives. First is to offer a broad picture of the growing film market in Brazil through the model of co-production. Second is to foreground how issues of access, performance, and PR spin shaped methods for investigating contemporary creative management beyond U.S. industries. Finally, the chapter seeks to explore the multi-faceted and culturally specific management culture circulating around Brazilian cinema.

In contrast to the US and Europe, Brazil lacks a tradition of science fiction research and criticism. The few, short-lived film studios have invested much more in comedies or realist dramas than in monster movies or space operas. Gradually, however, this scene is changing. The Brazilian academy has directed more attention to science fiction, and Brazilian authors and artists are gaining recognition on the international stage. Moreover, the Brazilian science fiction film can be an eloquent ‘key-text’ for further readings of social, political and economic contradictions in the country, its conflicts and idiosyncrasies regarding modernization, and the particularities of the Brazilian film industry. This piece aims to provide a brief overview of Brazilian science fiction cinema, identifying its main trends, challenges, and ‘shapes of apparition’. Thus, this chapter covers a time frame, which starts in the late 1940s and ends in the late 2000s. In addition, this overview is meant to investigate some basic sources, obstacles, and influences affecting Brazilian science fiction cinema, from its beginnings to today.

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the role of women in the Brazilian film industry during the twentieth century. Brazilian women have been channeling their visions of politics and society through cinema throughout the twentieth century. From the beginnings of sound cinema to the close of the studio era, pioneer Brazilian women filmmakers sought out their own opportunities from within the structures of the film industry. They often began as actresses who learned the craft of filmmaking and influenced a film's production while on set. Others relied on their personal finances to produce their own films, referred to as cavação—a staple of production practices in Brazil during the early twentieth century. However, it was on the heels of the international success of Cinema Novo that women began gaining a more solid foothold in filmmaking in Brazil.