oaçaba, 1946 – São Paulo (Brasil), 2004

By Luiz Felipe Alves de Miranda

A filmmaker and film critic in the 1960s, and author of the book For a Cinema Without Limits (2001), a selection of his articles and critiques, Rogério Sganzerla made his debut with a revolutionary work that mixed film genres: The Red Light Bandit (1968). Influenced by comic books, he directed The Woman of Everyone (1970). In the mid-1970s, in collaboration with Júlio Bressane at Belair Filmes, Sganzerla produced highly experimental and radical works, including No Way, Spider, Copacabana Mon Amour, and Carnival in Mud. Little is known about the documentary Out of the Deck (1971). Produced and starred by Norma Bengell, Abismu (1977) was a mystery film shot in an experimental style. He addressed Orson Welles’ visit to Brazil in It’s Not All True (1986) and directed the 5th episode, “Black Danger,” of the feature film Oswaldianas (1992), a tribute to the writer Oswald de Andrade. He created another documentary, All Is Brazil (1998). The final film of his career also explored Orson Welles’ time in Brazil, Sign of Chaos (2003).