Found footage cinema made by women: writing history and memory

• Grant number: 24/03386-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal Investigator: Cecilia Antakly de Mello
• Grantee: Clara Bastos Marcondes Machado
• Supervisor: Teresa Faucon
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/11177-5 - Found footage cinema made by women: writing history and memory, BP.DR

Abstract

Our research explores the links between the practice of found footage and the possibility of a feminist poetics, examining the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion, preservation and destruction within the archives. On the one hand, we are interested in exploring which images of women are present in the archives and in our audiovisual memory, and where they can be found. On the other hand, we analyze found footage films created by women to understand how these archival images can be reassembled and reinterpreted through a feminist lens in the present. Our hypothesis is that feminist found footage films can contribute to a revision of history that places women's lives and subjectivity at the forefront. Our analysis focuses on the following films: History Lessons (Barbara Hammer, 2000), Un'ora sola ti vorrei (Alina Marazzi, 2002), The Future is Behind You (Abigail Child, 2004), De cuerpo presente (Marcela Fernandez Violante, 1998) and Cuatreros (Albertina Carri, 2016). The research internship in France pursues three main objectives: (1) to deepen our understanding of the debate on the archive and the audiovisual archive through attendance to study groups, academic events and through access to a specialized bibliography; (2) to attend film exhibitions and festivals that enable us to gain access to productions not screened in Brazil, with the aim of broadening our reference field while enriching our research; (3) to discuss the research project with Professor Térésa Faucon, a world reference in film editing and film theory.