A Bruddah's Mind
(Cabeça de nêgo)
Déo Cardoso | Drama, Fiction
2020 | 86 minutes | Brazil
A reminder of the importance of activism, political engagement, and the sacrifices that come with it, A Bruddah’s Mind follows Saulo, a black introvert student and fan of the Black Panther Movement, as he challenges his school in the largely white city of Fortaleza.
Synopsis
Based on real events, this political drama fuses Brazilian history with international anti-racist movements. Saulo, a black introvert student and fan of the Black Panther Movement, challenges his school in the largely white city of Fortaleza.
After Saulo's reaction to a racial insult from a classmate, his teachers describe him as a young delinquent and swiftly attempt to expel him ignoring his usually calm and articulate demeanor. Outraged, Saulo refuses to leave the school until justice is done. His solitary occupation ends up challenging the school’s board and mobilizes the entire community. The students did not anticipate, however, the principal's extreme reaction.
Echoing events from around the world, A Bruddah’s Mind effectively calls out racism, misogyny, and militarism. It reminds us about the importance of activism, political engagement, and the sacrifices that come with it.
Reviews
"Highly Recommended. The film is compelling and accessible for audiences. It serves as a door to open discussion about education as a basic human right." — Rachael Dreyer, Head of Research Services for Special Collections, Pennsylvania State University, EMRO
"A fascinating curiosity of a film, with topical resonance, in a year partly marked by fervent expressions of Black Lives Matter issues and protests driven by righteous racial indignation." — Josef Woodard, The Santa Barbara Independent
"The relevance of A Bruddah's Mind is directly linked to the political issues that are mobilizing the country now...and Déo understands this with a necessary lucidity." — Vertentes Do Cinema
"The strength of Cardoso's seemingly simple film is that it's an impassioned voice, an advocate for protest, free speech, institutional, cultural, and social transparency, but most importantly progress." — Paul Risker, DMovies.com
"A Bruddah's Mind effectively calls out (take a breath) racism, misogyny, militarism, the ruling class, and the cooption of TV news, though the political commentary embedded organically in the storyline gives way in the last reel to overt polemics." — Michael Fox, KQED
Citation
Main credits
Cardoso, Déo (film director)
Goés, Larissa (actor)
Limeira, Lucas (actor)
Honori, Mateus (actor)
Mota, Nicoly (actor)
Menezes, Wally (actor)
Macedo, Maurício (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Roberto Iuri; editor, Guto Parente; music, Herlon Róbson.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Activism
Afro-Latin Studies
Communication + Journalism
Criminal Justice
Culture + Identity
Economics + Social Class Issues
Education
Human Rights
Political Science
Race + Ethnicity
South America
Youth
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
CineCeará Ibero-American Film Festival - Best Feature Film
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
San Francisco Latino Film Festival
Cine Latino Minneapolis Saint Paul Film Festival
Black Cinema Meeting
Curitiba International Film Festival
DIRECTOR: Déo Cardoso
NATIONALITY: Brazil
YEAR: 2020
GENRE: Drama, Fiction
LANGUAGE: Portuguese
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: College, Adults
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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