Finding Politics in Cinema: The Portuguese Democratic Transition

Abstract

Taking into account the political and social transformations initiated by the 1974 April revolution and the process of democratic transition, this article analyzes the political context and issues registered in documentary films in the period 1974–76. In their own way, documentary films carried a certain cultural praxis and social memory through the variety of symbols, beliefs, values, attitudes, and discourses that lay within these documentaries, allowing us to evaluate the dynamics of both power and legitimacy implicit in political culture. This article will focus on the cultural and political implications of documentary films on political theory in regards to the Portuguese democratic transition.

Keywords:

• democratic transition
• documentary films
• political culture
• political theory
• Portugal

Notes

¹During PREC (Ongoing Revolutionary Process), the Portuguese civil society was mobilized in a unique way, providing a set of circumstances for the emergence of a new power and a new political organization. The military action of November 25, 1975, contributed decisively to the appeasement of political radicalization, giving rise to an increased stability by strengthening the multiparty system and the Constituent Assembly. This setting of transition lasted until 1982 with the first constitutional revision, which led to the extinction of the Revolution Council—a military state body created to assure that the democratic transition was effective.

²After the coup d’état in 1974, one of the core questions of the democratic transition process was on who occupies power and how power was taken. During the VI Provisional Governments and until 1976, when the Portuguese democratic constitution was approved, queries on this subject were recurrent—all sectors of productions (industry, agriculture, education, cultural industries) were influenced by a radical politicization of the left-wing parties and social movements. This was particularly true in cinema, through the Portuguese Institute for Cinema (IPC—Instituto Português do Cinema) and its new generation of directors in a period called Cinema Novo.

³After 1974, the production of documentary films exceeds the production of fictional films, not only because of financial restrictions of producing a fiction, but also because documentary films could be more politically engaged to democratization.

⁴Documentary films: Deus, Pátria, Autoridade, Rui Simões [1975, 103’].

⁵Documentary films: O Caso Sogantal, CINEQUIPA [1975, 47’]; Por uma Coroa Sueca, CINEQUIPA [1975, 45’]; Barronhos—Quem Tem Medo do Poder Popular?, Luís Filipe Rocha [1976, 52’]; Greve na Construção Civil, CINEQUANON [1975, 23’].

⁶Documentary films: Terra de Pão, Terra de Luta, José Nascimento [1977, 68’]; Continuar a Viver ou os Índios da Meia-Praia, António Cunha Teles [1976, 108’]; Ocupação de Terras na Beira Baixa (Quinta da Vargem), CINEQUIPA [1975, 42’]; Nascer, Viver, Morrer, Paradinha, Moimenta da Beira, CINEQUIPA [1975, 37’]; Assim Começa uma Cooperativa, Grupo Zero [1976, 16’]; Terra de Abril (Vilar de Perdizes), Philippe Costantini and Anna Glogowski [1977, 90’]; …Pela Razão que Têm!, João Nascimento and CINEQUIPA [1976, 45’]; A Luta do Povo – Alfabetização em Santa Catarina, Grupo Zero [1976, 29’]; Torre Bela, Thomas Harlan [1977, 117’].

⁷Documentary films: Scenes from the Class Struggle in Portugal, Philip Spinelli and Robert Kramer [1976, 96’]; Revolução, Ana Hatherly [1975, 11’]; As Armas e o Povo, Trabalhadores da Actividade Cinematográfica [1975, 81’]; Caminhos da Liberdade, CINEQUIPA [1974, 54’]; Bom Povo Português, Rui Simões [1980, 132’].

⁸Documentary films: O Encoberto, Fernando Lopes [1975, 11’]; Que Farei eu com esta Espada?, João César Monteiro [1975, 65’].