Chytilová s Women: in film and in television through the senses

• Grant number: 20/15036-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2021
• End date: June 06, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal Investigator: Esther Império Hamburger
• Grantee: Luiza Wollinger Delfino
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/04554-0 - Vra Chytilová: in film and in television through the senses, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The present project intends to investigate the aesthetic and formal aspects that constitute the female protagonism in the early works of Czech film director Vra Chytilová and in which ways they relate to her less-known television production. To answer these questions, the project will be segmented into three stages. The first stage will focus on the aesthetic and formal aspects of the films Ceiling, Baf of Fleas, Something Different, Daisies and Fruit of Paradise to understand what I identify as a synesthetic way of representing the female characters. Feminist film theories were developed from the 70s onwards in different strands and approaches focused on the filmmakers, the films and the spectatorships. To some extent, the feminist theories are connected to the theories that think cinema through the senses. This research aims to establish connections between these theoretical fields through Chytilová's films, with its appeal to surrealist references, little narrative, and turned to elements that appeal to the senses such as colors, smells, tastes and non-naturalist performances. Thus, the Czech avant-garde traditions and the film theory through the senses of Elsaesser, Hagener and Marks complement the bibliography. From 1970 until 1976, the Czech government prevented Chytilová from making films for cinema and during this interval she scripted and directed her first two films for television. Until her death in 2014, she had found in this media an alternative for her work and expression. Thereby, the second stage of this project will analyse the films directed by Chytilová for exclusively television distribution. Finally, the third stage will be concerned on relating the works from cinema and television, seeking transmediatic connections, from the findings of the first stage, mainly with regard to the female protagonism.