Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>On February 7, 2023, Karla Holanda, a professor in the Department of Film and Video at Rio de Janeiro’s Federal Fluminense University, organized this discussion centered on women in Brazilian cinema in the context of the threat by the extreme right. The conversation took place shortly after the 2022 election, which saw the end of Jair Bolsonaro’s authoritarian government (2019 to 2022), a government characterized by racist, misogynistic, anti-environmental, anti-intellectual, and anti-culture words and gestures. Bolsonaro’s presidential term had a profound effect on Brazilian cinema. Film was censored as certain themes and mechanisms that had previously encouraged production and promoted diversity were undermined. This made it difficult for many production companies to survive, leading to the unemployment of a significant number of professionals, and causing film students to be fearful for their futures. The election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who began his mandate on January 1, 2023, brought new proposals aimed at repairing social inequalities and promising to promote ethnic, racial, sexual, and regional diversity. It was at this moment of reconstruction that this conversation and its contributors reflected on Brazil’s contemporary audiovisual culture, tracing its projections from the female perspective.</jats:p>