Cinema Novo - End of Cinema Novo

End of Cinema Novo

Burnes St. Patrick Hollyman, son of famed American photographer Thomas Hollyman, states that "by 1970, many of the cinema novo films had won numerous awards at international festivals". In 1970 Rocha published a manifesto on the progress of Cinema Novo, in which he said he was pleased that Cinema Novo "had gained critical acceptance as part of world cinema" and had become "a nationalist cinema that accurately reflected the artistic and ideological concerns of the Brazilian people" (Hollyman). But Rocha also warned filmmakers and consumers that being too complacent in the achievements of Cinema Novo would return Brazil to its pre-Cinema Novo state:

The movement is bigger than any one of us. But the young should know that they cannot be irresponsible about the present and the future because today's anarchy can be tomorrow's slavery. Before long, imperialism will start to exploit the newly created films. If the Brazilian cinema is the palm tree of Tropicalism, it is important that the people who have lived through the drought are on guard to make sure that Brazilian cinema doesn't become underdeveloped.

Rocha's fears were realized. In 1977, filmmaker Carlos Diegues said that "one can only talk about Cinema Novo in nostalgic or figurative terms because Cinema Novo as a group no longer exists, above all because it has been diluted into Brazilian cinema." Toward the end of Cinema Novo, the Brazilian government created film company Embrafilme to encourage production of Brazilian cinema; but Embrafilme mostly produced films that ignored the Cinema Novo ideology. Aristides Gazetas claims that Third Cinema now carries on the Cinema Novo tradition.