The documentary “Rio, Negro” was produced by Casa Fluminense and Quiprocó Filmes, with the support of iCS, and was released in cinemas showing a new perspective of the history of the city, rooted in its African origins
“Rio, Negro” is a documentary produced by Quiprocó Filmes in partnership with Casa Fluminense and supported by iCS and has had its long-awaited national release. It presents another viewpoint of the history of the city of Rio de Janeiro, focusing on the significant contribution of the black population of African origin in its formation. In an official text on social networks, the producers say that they used interviews and a wide archive collection to “unveil how the black population forged individual trajectories and community ties in a diaspora-city marked by the disputes surrounding the ‘civilizing project’ of the white elites. Rio, Negro provides centrality to this debate, articulating the racist ideology, the transfer of the capital to Brasília and its political and institutional consequences for Rio de Janeiro.”
“The film, Rio, Negro, provides a historical look at the social and urban formation of Rio de Janeiro, localizing the city and more specifically the Cais do Valongo as the main port that received the enslaved Africans into the Americas. This heritage shaped the city that we know today, both because of the marked black presence and also due to the racist rejection of the Republican Project of Brazil in relation to this same population. It is in this period that the racist bias of the urban planning in Rio intensifies and strategies are found to expel blacks to the regions furthest from the political and economic center to areas with less infrastructure and opportunities. Reflecting on this is to localize historically the roots of the environmental racism in Rio de Janeiro that subjects the black and peripheral populations of Rio to the more damaging impacts of the climate emergency that we are experiencing today,” explains Larissa Amorim, the executive coordinator of Casa Fluminense.
One of the interviews involves the current secretary of the Environment and Climate of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Tainá de Paula.
