The Participants 2007:
Internet as a Space for New Film Criticism
By Leonardo Mecchi (Brazil)

One of the first things people tend to find curious about my background is the fact that, prior to working in cinema, I graduated in Engineering and worked for big multinational companies. Even though I always loved movies, cinema was not an option back in those days. To understand that, one must know a little bit about recent Brazilian history.

After a great boom during the seventies, Brazilian film industry faced a severe crisis during the eighties, which in fact was part of a larger crisis of the national economy. The number of theaters declined from 3.276 in 1975 to only 1.553 in 1984 and the attendance dropped over 67% during that period. As a result, Brazilian film production turned out to be completely dependent on government support, through the government film industry Embrafilme. In 1990 however, liberal president Fernando Collor closed down Embrafilme, virtually extinguishing an already small and feeble production. It was not until 1994 that the Brazilian film industry began its gradual and slow recovery.

During those dark years between 1984 and 1994, film critics in Brazil changed their approach: instead of criticizing Brazilian films, they chose to give support and protection to a fading production, even if that meant being complaisant. Even if that was hardly a reproachable attitude back in those days, the problem is that such a complaisant look into the national production turned into a pattern even after its recovery. Add to that the reducing amount of space for cinema reflection and analyses in the traditional media and we had an unexpected situation: Brazilian films were getting more and more complex and innovative but there was no serious critical thought on them.

That's when I sensed the urge to start writing about films. By then, I had already started working in film production, producing short and feature films, as well as film festivals and other cinematographic projects, in a synergy between production and reflection that I find crucial. As there was virtually no space available for serious film criticism in the main press, I created my own website to publish my critiques and articles. It turned out that several other young film critics in Brazil, who started writing after the 80s critics and so had a whole new approach to contemporary films, started to look to the Internet as the ideal space for new film criticism.

Nowadays, following the example of other important web-based magazines such as the American "Reverse Shot" and the Australians "Rouge" and "Senses of Cinema", Brazil has, among the dozens of websites devoted to cinema, two main spaces for serious film studies and criticism: the pioneer "Contracampo" (specialized in long and depth dossiers about prominent filmmakers and cinematographies) and "Cinética", which I joined since its birth, founded by young film critics who sensed an urge to have a closer dialogue with those involved in Brazilian film production in order to try to influence it, and who would also like to reflect on the fast and impetuous changes that are shaping the future of cinema — such as the Internet, digital technology, You Tube et al — without leaving behind traditional film criticism. Finally, it was in this context that I decided to apply to the Berlinale Talent Campus, hoping that with this experience I'll be able to bring new concepts and different points of view to Brazilian film criticism.

Leonardo Mecchi

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