Pelourinho: They Don't Really Care About Us
Synopsis
Pelourinho: They Don’t Really Care About Us draws from a 1927 letter by W. E. B. Du Bois to the U.S. Embassy of Brazil about discrimination toward Black American travelers, the film connects Du Bois’s struggle to enter Brazil with the later celebration of Michael Jackson there, tracing a century of Black visibility shaped by both restriction and spectacle.
Ghana, United States
Languages: Portuguese, English
Support
Goethe-Institut Vila Sul, Salvador-Bahia
Cast & Crew
Directed by Akosua Adoma Owusu
Produced by Obibini Pictures LLC
Cinematography by Akosua Adoma Owusu
Voice Over: Lais Machado & Augusto Soledade
Edited by Dylan Bowman
Sound Design & Mix by Kari Rae Seekins
Awards & Recognition
• Special Jury Mention, Videoex International Experimental Film & Video Festival, Zürich
Selected Screenings
• International Film Festival Rotterdam
• New York Film Festival
• BFI London Film Festival
• San Francisco International Film Festival
• Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
• ZINEBI - International Festival of Documentary and Short Film Festival
• Dallas International Film Festival
• São Paulo International Short Film Festival, Curta Kinoforum
• REDCAT
• Maryland Film Festival
• We Are One: A Global Film Festival
• San Diego Underground Film Festival
Platform Selections
• Staff Picks: e-flux Film
• We Are One: A Global Film Festival
Selected Writing
• Modern Times Review
• Film Comment
• Letterboxd
• MUBI Notebook Feature
Pelourinho, They Don’t Really Care About Us connects past and present. The echoes of letters written in 1920’s are linked to recent image and sound recordings, showing a violent history that not only manifests itself in the past, but is still embedded in our times. The Jury wants to give a special mention to Pelourinho, They Don't Really Care About Us because of it’s urgency both in form and message – Videoex, Zurich