Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: AIRON SARUG FERREIRA DANTAS

ESCAPE ROUTES FROM ARIDITY: THE CINEMATIC BACKGROUND OF LÍRIO FERREIRA

Space representation; landscape; Film space; Pernambuco’s cinema; Northeastern semi-arid.

This dissertation examines the thematic and aesthetic diversity of Brazilian cinema that emerged from the 1990s, focusing on the films Baile Perfumado (1996), Árido Movie (2005), and Acqua Movie (2019), directed by Lírio Ferreira. Through the lens of geographical science, three main aspects are explored: the construction of discourse and imagery of the cinematic backlands, the challenge to traditional conceptions of the Brazilian Northeast, and the contribution of imagistic plots to a deeper geographical understanding of the region. Concepts such as settings, space, and landscape are employed to facilitate reflection on the backlands as a hybrid entity in contemporary cinematography. The crucial role of space in film construction is highlighted, revealing the creation of a cinematic backlands characterized by a poetics of existence. New perspectives on the representation of the backlands as a space in constant flux, transitioning between the archaic and the new, the past and the present, are addressed, reflecting poetics, identities, perspectives, and characters connected to the global context.