The Age of the Earth

A controversial film by journalist, critic, and filmmaker Glauber Rocha who is the founder of the Brazilian Cinema Novo. Because his movies were banned in his native country due to his left-wing sympathies, Rocha moved to Cuba in the 60s. Later on, he settled in the U.S. and Europe. In 1980 he returned to Brazil to make A Idade da Terra. In this film he tries to lay bare the nature of the Brazilian people while philosophizing about the future of the earth. Rocha thinks a new revolution is at hand: a combination of capitalism and socialism. This theory is based on the innovating - according to Rocha - forces of catholicism (pope John XXIII) and the power of the media. A Idade da Terra is characterized by a restless camera treatment. Rocha shows many symbols, using fading techniques and ultrashort shots which often have deliberately been over- or underexposed. These methods were fiercely criticized during the film festival of Venice (1980). (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)