O Instituto Nacional de Cinema Educativo e a democracia racial: narrativas fílmicas e a desconstrução do mito

Abstract

This study supports the thesis that the cinema operated by the National Institute of Educational Cinema (INCE) was instrumentalized by the state to disseminate a conception of the nation based on the myth of racial democracy, contributing, through its productions, to the consolidation of a Brazilian identity marked by racism and cordiality. Through its own institute, films were developed with a perspective aligned with national ideals. Film analysis showed that (INCE) productions not only portrayed, but also reinforced, implicitly or explicitly, an idealized vision of Brazilian society, in which peaceful coexistence was represented as a consolidated reality. This representation was often used as a strategy to legitimize the hegemonic discourse that minimized or ignored the profound social and racial inequalities present in the Brazilian reality. In addition, by promoting the image of a presumably complete and inclusive racial democracy, such productions contributed to the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudices that served to marginalize and make invisible the experiences and struggles of the black community. In this way, the educational cinema produced by (INCE) ended up reinforcing and naturalizing structures of power and privilege. This critical analysis is relevant to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of educational cinema in the construction and reproduction of social and cultural identities between the 1920s and 1940s.