Making of - Quilombo

Carlos Diegues' epic film "Quilombo" was one of the greatest accomplishes of Brazilian cinema of the 1980's with its mixture of facts on leader Zumbi dos Palmares and his rebellion against slavery and it also came with a sense of fantastic dream or the possibilities to be explored when it comes to the mysticism about the quilombo Palmares. This rare making of follows cast, crew and a historical who served as technical advisor sharing their views on the film and the real Zumbi, an important historical figure in the black community.

If today those kind of specials are a somewhat frequent thing, back in the day it was very rare to find a good and relevant behind the scenes following a particular film. This one was very comprehensive, informative, with countless moments with the actors preparing themselves for the role or some particular scene (the exchange between Zezé Motta and Carlos Kroeber is hilarious), and the historian descriptions of everything is also very interesting to follow, just as much as Diegues making a reflection about this movie and his previous on a similar topic, the underrated "Ganga Zumba" (1963). It was such an impressive project that I had to rewatch "Quilombo" as it celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024 and it was a lot better than I had remembered. If given the opportunity, try to watch both, you won't regret it. 9/10.