This book offers a pioneering critical history of Brazilian science fiction (SF) cinema, from its first appearances in the mid-twentieth century to the present. Though frequently overlooked by scholars, SF cinema from the Global South has reinvigorated the genre in recent decades. In this comprehensive study--the first of its kind in either English or Portuguese--Alfredo Suppia draws out the unique features and universal resonance of SF film in Brazil, a country that has fittingly been called "the land of the future." In Suppia's analysis, Brazilian SF stems from and responds to a long history of inequality in which everyday reality has often resembled a movie-like dystopia. Analyzing both short and feature films in the context of social, political, and economic transformations, Suppia rethinks SF film in general from a southern perspective.
This book offers a pioneering critical history of Brazilian science fiction (SF) cinema, from its first appearances in the mid-twentieth century to the present. Though frequently overlooked by scholars, SF cinema from the Global South has reinvigorated the genre in recent decades. In this comprehensive study--the first of its kind in either English or Portuguese--Alfredo Suppia draws out the unique features and universal resonance of SF film in Brazil, a country that has fittingly been called "the land of the future." In Suppia's analysis, Brazilian SF stems from and responds to a long history of inequality in which everyday reality has often resembled a movie-like dystopia. Analyzing both short and feature films in the context of social, political, and economic transformations, Suppia rethinks SF film in general from a southern perspective.