Ozualdo Candeias’s audiovisual records and the construction of the memories of the “Cinema da Boca” in the Santa Efigênia district

Abstract

In this article, we propose an analysis of the production of the photographer and film director Ozualdo Candeias about the Triunfo street in the center of São Paulo, where the so-called “Cinema da Boca do Lixo” was located between the 1960s and the 1980s. The work records the landscape and the professionals engaged in the cinematographic activity of dozens of companies dedicated to the production, distribution, rental, and exhibition of films, activity which was developed around bus and railway stations. The photographs analyzed were taken between 1960 and 2000, a period marked by the patrimonialization process of the inner city including the listing and a proper appreciation of the historical buildings of the region as well as the formation of a new cultural pole for the city. Also, in addition of being a source for the history of the cinema industry of São Paulo, these records contribute to the study of the urban history of the city and visual culture, elucidating fundamental aspects to understand the existing spatial and social dynamics of the region, revealing a perspective hidden by the dominant narrative which emphasizes the stigmatization of the area, marked by social problems. It is also intended, from these records, to identify recurrent elements in the construction of the memories of “Cinema da Boca”, since the works of Candeias have often been rescued in audiovisuals dedicated to the theme.