Before Brazil was 'cool,' this Black musical stormed 90 countries and rewrote the script.
Created by Haroldo Costa in 1956, "Brasiliana" was a Brazilian musical with a repertoire of Black music that toured the world, visiting more than 90 countries between the 1950s and 1960s. Bringing Afro-Brazilian music, dance, and culture to international audiences at a time when Brazil was still synonymous with "samba, football, and beautiful women," the show helped present a more authentic image of the country's culture to the world.
Direction
Joel Zito Araújo excavates a buried cultural treasure with precision.
Production
Archival footage that shouldn't exist but miraculously does.
Director
Joel Zito Araújo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
1956 Brazil was under military-civilian rule; exporting Black culture while Black Brazilians faced systemic erasure at home is the contradiction this documentary quietly explodes.
Haroldo Costa is still alive and appears in the film—imagine being 90+ and finally watching your own revolution get its due.
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