Black God, White Devil

Rocha was born in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil and moved with his family to Salvador when he was only 9 years old, there studying in a famous and respected Presbyterian school. During his adolescence, he developed great interest in arts, especially theatre and cinema, and even joined a drama group. He was also very active in politics, a trait that would be strongly influential in his works.

By the age of 16 he started freelancing for a local newspaper and debuted as a movie reviewer. Later, he attended Law School for about two years and in 1959, after taking part in some projects as assistant, he finally directed his first short, “Pátio”. After gaining some recognition in Bahia for his critical and artistic work, Rocha decided to quit college and pursue a journalistic career, as well as being a film-maker.

He is notorious for his film trilogy, made up of Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (1964) – perhaps his most acclaimed movie, nominated for the Golden Palm -, Terra em Transe (1967) and O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro (1969), award-winning for Best Director at Cannes. His films were renowned for their strongly-expressed political themes, often combined with mysticism and folklore, but also for their particular style and photography. Rocha is regarded as the one of the best Brazilian directors of all time and leader of the Cinema Novo movement, as well as a full-time polemicist. He once said “I am the Cinema Novo”,1 paraphrasing Louis XIV’s famous quote.

In 1971, during the Brazilian military dictatorial regime, he left the country to a voluntary exile, dwelling in many places, such as Spain, Chile and Portugal. He never completely returned home until his last days, when he was transferred from Lisbon, where he had been receiving medical treatment for a lung infection, to Rio de Janeiro. Rocha resisted in hospital for few days, but ultimately died in August 22, 1981, at the age of 43. He had been married three times and had five children. —Wikipedia