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The Expansion of 16mm in Film Distribution and Exhibition in Postwar Brazil

2023; Volume: 62; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/cj.2023.0011

2578-4919

Rafael de Luna Freire, Filipe Brito Gama, Tiago Bravo Pinheiro de Freitas Quintes,

Photographic and Visual Arts

The Expansion of 16mm in Film Distribution and Exhibition in Postwar Brazil Rafael de Luna Freire (bio), Filipe Brito Gama (bio), and Tiago Bravo Pinheiro de Freitas Quintes (bio) This essay explores the diverse modes of exhibition of 16mm in post–World War II Brazil, when projectors and prints in this gauge gained widespread use. In this way, our case study reflects a different chronology for the rising popularity of 16mm technology than that of the United States and some European countries. Here we argue that the impact of 16mm was felt in postwar Brazil in both theatrical and non-theatrical circuits, stimulating the proliferation of film clubs in major cities but also the opening of commercial 16mm movie theaters around the country. It is true that projectors intended for schools and homes were available early in Brazil, but film exhibition outside of theaters expanded more markedly in the 1920s through both 9.5mm and 16mm film formats. After all, if French cinema was dominant in Brazil until World War I, then the popularity of projectors manufactured in that country would linger longer in the Brazilian market. Especially because of their low cost, Pathé Baby 9.5mm equipment and films were more widely used in Brazil than 16mm until the early 1940s, despite the greater variety of brands and models of equipment in this American gauge.1 [End Page 162] It was also in the second half of the 1920s that, like amateur cinema, educational cinema gained momentum in Brazil. However, most Brazilian educational establishments opted to acquire 35mm projectors, which could also be portable, safe, and affordable.2 The introduction of sound cinema in Brazil, starting in 1929, also delayed the expansion of 16mm non-theatrical circuits. Given the high costs, the adaptation of commercial 35mm theaters was slow and extended into the mid-1930s, the exception to this rule being the movie palaces in major capitals.3 Educational institutions, for the most part, also continued projecting 35mm silent films during this period. A boost occurred in 1936 when the newly created Instituto Nacional de Cinema Educativo (National Institute of Educational Cinema, INCE) began production and distribution of 16mm sound films. If a school had no sound projector, these films could be accompanied by a record or by leaflets that would be read by the teacher. INCE also produced educational films in 35mm for the theatrical circuit. The difficulties of importing goods to Brazil after the beginning of World War II also hindered the dissemination of 16mm technology. This encumbrance persisted despite the investment in the projection of propaganda films in this gauge at schools, factories, clubs, and barracks or even in public squares around the country by the Brazilian Division of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) amid the Good Neighbor Policy of the United States government.4 The expansion of 16mm in the Brazilian exhibition circuit would occur mainly after the end of the war. In fact, from 1945 on, the number of movie theaters in Brazil grew continuously, reaching its peak at the end of the 1950s.5 Due to lower prices and an increased supply of imported sound projectors, 16mm technology was essential for this expansion. In 1948, for example, the Brazilian press reported the installation of 16mm projectors even in small towns in the interior of Brazil, thanks to [End Page 163] the machine’s affordability and its ease of operation.6 Both the specialized trade and large department stores drove the sale of projectors, which were exclusively imported until 1960, when a manufacturing facility was built in São Leopoldo.7 Film supply also grew. Companies such as Mexican PelMex and French França Filmes as well as Brazilian Polifilmes, Art Filmes, and Citéra distributed Latin American and European films on 16mm, making them available again after they had almost disappeared from Brazilian movie theaters during the war.8 Also, by 1948, film distributors serving commercial and theatrical venues, including those circulating American studio films, had definitively incorporated 16mm. RKO, Warner Brothers, MGM, and Columbia all released their films in 16mm.9 Fox and Universal soon followed. The postwar period in Brazil witnessed the valorization of cinema’s...