Cinema’s Milieux: Grappling with the Movies’ Popular Dimension in Early
Twentieth Century Brazil
Maite Conde
University of Cambridge
Mc534@cam.ac.uk
Drawing on extensive archival research, this paper examines the controversies over
the place and role of the cinema in early twentieth century Brazil. It situates these
contestations in the context of regulatory concerns about governance and populations
in a country grappling with the powerful forces of modernity, in particular,
immigration, class formation and conflict, and changing gender roles. Tracing the
discourses of Brazil’s cultural and political elites and also the practical responses of
film entrepreneurs and exhibitors, the paper discusses how these interactions were
imbricated with changes in place of cinema in Brazilian society and illustrates how
they had profound effects on film content, its function and exhibition practices.