Crítico (Critic)

Brazil 2008, 82 min, documentary, English subtitles

Seventy filmmakers, actors, and critics, including Walter Salles, Eduardo Coutinho, Elia Suleiman, and Gus Van Sant, in a debate on the art of cinema that revolves around the ancient conflict between artist and viewer, between creator and critic. Director Kleber Mendonça Filho, who also works “on the other side” as a film critic, brought together a range of positions on the subject between 1998 and 2007, from Brazil, the US, and Europe. His central concerns are the struggle of film as an art form against the commercial standards of the film industry and achieving more-humane conditions of production and reception.