Vitória da Conquista, 1939 – Río de Janeiro (Brasil), 1981
By Luiz Felipe Alves de Miranda
A Brazilian film director of Presbyterian origin, Glauber Pedro de Andrade Rocha had a biblical upbringing. In Salvador, the capital of the State of Bahia, Brazil, he enrolled in Law School but did not complete it. In the 1950s, he underwent his film training, particularly at the Cinema Club of Bahia, during a time of great cultural effervescence. He wrote film chronicles for Rádio Excelsior da Bahia and published reviews for newspapers and magazines in his state.
In 1959, he completed his first experimental short film, O pátio. That same year, he married Helena Ignez, who became an important actress in the 1960s. He began publishing articles in Jornal do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro). He was the executive producer of A grande feira (Roberto Pires, 1962). He started filming Barravento (1962) in 1960, which was edited by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.
He connected with the youth who, alongside him, formed the group of Cinema Novo. In 1963, he published the controversial and irreverent book Revisão crítica do cinema brasileiro, in which he analyzed the cinema produced in the country, highlighting the works of Humberto Mauro and the independent filmmakers of the 1950s. In 1964, he released the classic Deus e o diabo na terra do sol, filmed in the interior of Bahia, a movie considered fundamental to Brazilian cinema and acclaimed internationally. In 1965, in Genoa, at the V Rassegna del Cine Latino-Americano, Glauber presented his manifesto Estética da fome, advocating for a departure from Hollywood-style industrial cinema and asserting that violence is the noblest manifestation of hunger. Cinema Novo then championed an aesthetic of violence with transformative and awareness-raising content.
In 1966, he filmed two shorts: Amazonas, Amazonas, a color documentary commissioned by the state government, and Maranhão 66, also a documentary, commissioned by José Sarney, who was assuming the governorship. Terra em transe (1967) narrated the journey of Paulo Martins, a poet and journalist linked to Porfirio Díaz, a conservative right-wing leader. Paulo was co-opted by the communist militant Sarah, and began to support the populist leader Vieira—who was running for the presidency of Eldorado against Díaz. Díaz staged a coup and became president. Martins ended up dead. The film was awarded at Cannes and is recognized for its grand aesthetic by various segments of film criticism.
In 1968, he filmed Câncer, which was only released in 1972. O dragão da maldade contra o santo guerreiro (1969), in color, revisited the narrative universe of Deus e o diabo, constituting the biggest commercial success of Glauber’s career, who was awarded the Best Director prize at Cannes, along with many other awards. He was the co-producer of Brasil, ano 2000 (1968) by Walter Lima Jr., who was married to his sister, Anecy Rocha. With the decree of Institutional Act No. 5 (AI-5) by the military regime, Glauber left for abroad, accompanying O dragão da maldade at festivals in Europe. He filmed Der leone have sept cabeças (1970) in the former Congo, featuring Jean-Pierre Léaud, a work poorly received by critics and film lovers. Almost simultaneously, he directed Cabeças cortadas (1970) in Catalonia, also facing significant rejection. The film was banned in Brazil and only released in 1978.
Glauber returned to Brazil in 1970, but his stay soon became impossible. He then traveled to the United States, Chile, and several European countries. In 1971, he settled in Cuba, and the following year began working with Marcos Medeiros on História do Brasil (1974), a documentary made with archival material and completed three years later. In 1975, he directed Claro, perhaps his most complex film. He returned to Brazil in June 1976—having supported General Ernesto Geisel’s government in 1974, a move heavily criticized by various intellectual circles in the country. He filmed the funeral of the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, creating a short film of the same name, which won an award at Cannes (1977). However, the artist’s family managed to legally block the film’s screening, and it remains banned. That same year, he made the short documentary Jorjamado no cinema, about his friend and fellow Bahian writer. He contributed extensively to the press, especially to Folha de S.Paulo and Jornal do Brasil, and in 1979 worked on TV Tupi’s program “Abertura,” where he interviewed a wide range of people with an innovative approach for television. His last film was the feature A idade da terra (1980), a brilliant yet overly complex work selected for the 37th Venice Film Festival that year, though poorly received by the jury.
Glauber protested, caused a scandal, and became the focus of media attention. In 1981, he moved to Portugal. His health, which was already problematic, worsened significantly. He returned to Rio de Janeiro and two days later, on August 22, 1981, passed away, leaving behind four children and a series of books, many published posthumously.
