Cinema Novo

Cinema Novo is a genre and movement of film noted for its emphasis on social equality and intellectualism that rose to prominence in Latin America during the 1960s and 1970s. It means 'New Cinema' in Portuguese, which is the official language of Brazil, the movement's "home". Cinema Novo formed in response to class and racial unrest both in Latin America and the United States. Influenced by Italian neorealism and French New Wave, films produced under the ideology of Cinema Novo opposed traditional Brazilian cinema, which consisted primarily of musicals, comedies and Hollywood-style epics. Glauber Rocha is widely regarded as Cinema Novo's most influential filmmaker. Today, the movement is often divided into three sequential phases that differ in tone, style and content.

Cinema Novo should not be confused with Novo Cinema, a film movement that arose in Portugal between 1963 and 1974.