“EMPIRE CINEMA”: the colonial projection of the Portuguese ‘Estado Novo’ in the films of the exhibitions between the World Wars

Abstract

Abstract: This  article  analyses  how  Portugal  “imagined”  its  former  colonies  through  the  cinema focusing  on  a  production  of  films  made  for  the  projection  of  Portugal  as  a  colonial  power  in  the international  expositions  between  the  Twentieth  Century  World  Wars  or  for  the  registration  of  the great national exhibitions  of affirmation and  legitimation of the  Estado  Novo dictatorial regime. The analysis  of  the  uses  of  cinema  by  Western  colonial  propaganda  has  begun  to  be  made  only  recently. There are few studies on how the cinema has represented the former colonies. They confirm the need for  a  comprehensive  investigation  for  a  better  understanding  of  the  propagandist  use  of  cinema, especially  by  the  Portuguese  dictatorship,  to  promote  colonial  politics.  In  my  ongoing  postdoctoral research, entitled “’Empire Cinema’. Portugal, France, and England, representations of the empire in the cinema”,  I  analyse  the  colonial  cinematographic representations in  the  “long-duration”.  In  this article,  however, I specifically analyse the  Portuguese production of films  for projection in (and  also the  films  produced  about) the  great  national  expositions –the  Colonial  Exposition,  at  Porto,  and  the “Portuguese World” Exposition, in Lisbon -and international expositions -Seville, Antwerp and Paris -between  1930  and  1940.What  movies  were  made,  by  whom  and  for  what  audiences?  For  what purposes? What colonial representations did they propose? -these are the questions I address, through film analysis and some documentary sources that have not yet been referenced.

Keywords: Colonial cinema. International expositions. Colonial propaganda. Estado Novo.