Renato Barbieri's works examine Brazilian identity in face of media images but are also concerned with sensations, emotions and above all the magnetic attraction of the television screen, as seen through its representations of Brazilians and Brazil. 

 Replying to questions from a group of students, Barbieri explained that the experimental documentary was very important in his work in the 1980s, the period when the independent production company Electronic Glance backed his videos Do Outro Lado da Sua Casa (1985), Duvideo (1989) and Expiation (1989). In Do Outro Lado da Sua Casa and Expiation, both of which are documentaries, he doggedly contrasts the media representations and the reality of the Brazilian people.

 Barbieri's work also focuses on imagery suggesting the mythical elements of the origins of Brazilian culture. He has made a number of documentaries, including O Atlantico Negro: na rota dos Orixas (Black Atlantic: On the Route of Orixas, 1998) and Malagrida (1999), which enumerate what he calls his 'poetic liberties'. These films speak of cultural relationships between the Black communities of Brazil and Africa in the context of myths and reality. One of his most recent films, AsVidas de Maria 2005), recounts the life story of a woman born on the same day that the city of Brasilia was inaugurated.

Elodie Vouille

Translation Miriam Rosen