Black God, White Devil

Director: Glauber Rocha

1964 / 120min / 4K DCP

A film whose violent revolutionary fervor finds a fitting backdrop in the equally violent landscapes of impoverished northeastern Brazil, Rocha’s audaciously avant-garde sophomore feature depicts the collision course trajectory between a self-styled saint leading an army of utopian renegades and the hired gun, Antonio das Mortes, who the government and Catholic church have hired to stop the insurgents in their tracks. “A political Western that rages at Brazil’s governmental corruption and plutocratic oppression… [with] raw, grand, urgent images.”—Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Restored in 2022 by Metropoles Produções AudioVisuais and Paloma Cinematográfica from the original 35mm negative preserved by the Cinemateca Brasileira. The 4K restoration was carried out at Estudios Colors and Estudios JLS in collaboration with Luis Abramo and Rogerio Moraes, with Rodrigo Mercês’ supervision.

Introduction by Richard Peña, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, Director Emeritus, NYFF, on Saturday May 17th