Brazil: The Acknowledgment of Film Blogosphere as Media

Print Screen of Proibido Proibir Blog

The blogosphere is increasingly occupying a strategic role in the dissemination of Brazilian cinema. A large number of blogs focusing on film reviews, professional or not, has become recognized and respected as media. One of the reasons for this appreciation of the film blogosphere is the freedom these blogs have to write about the subject. They get so much recognition that sometimes movies are presented first to the bloggers and then to official press.

That is what happened, for example, with the film “Blue Eyes” by director Jose Joffily, recently launched with a special promotion with invitations to previews of the film exclusively for bloggers in Rio de Janeiro [pt]. The blogger Barbárie Prosáica [Prozaic Barbarism] talks about the exclusive session for bloggers:

“Fui convidada, como alguns amigos meus, para uma pré-estréia do filme Olhos Azuis, feita especialmente para blogueiros, (…) Adorei a ideia; além de ser uma forma bastante barata e eficaz de divulgar o filme, reconhece a importância da blogosfera na circulação de informações”

“I was invited, as some friends of mine, for a preview of the film Blue Eyes, made especially for bloggers, (…)I loved the idea, besides being a fairly cheap and effective way to promote the film, recognizes the importance of the blogosphere for ciculating information.”

Matheus Rocha, from Proibido Proibir Blog [Forbidden to Forbid Blog], made a post collecting important national film bloggers [pt] and their opinions on the subject:

“O Blog é a tão sonhada liberdade de expressão. Um canal pelo qual você consegue expor suas ideias, expressar uma opinião ou simplesmente informar”. Graça Paes é apenas um exemplo de Jornalistas que têm mergulhado de cabeça no universo da Blogosfera, para escrever sobre o que gostam e como desejam, sem se preocupar em ser tolhidos pela sua editoria. Na verdade, o crescimento da internet e o desenvolvimento de sites de relacionamento permitem que qualquer pessoa (não só profissionais de Comunicação) seja reconhecida por publicar textos e ideias sobre seus temas preferidos, passando a ser vistos por seu público como especialistas em determinado assunto.”

“The Blog is the long awaited freedom of expression. A channel through which you can expose your ideas, express an opinion or simply to inform. ” Graça Paes is just one example of journalists who have plunged head first into the universe of the blogosphere to write about what they like and want without worrying about being restrained by editors. Indeed, the growth of the Internet and the development of social networking sites allow anyone (not only communication professionals) to be recognized for publishing articles and ideas on his favorite themes, from being seen by the public as experts in their particular subject.”

He also quote Pedro Tavares, from Cinema O Rama blog, that talks about the opportunity that blogs bring to unknown authors:

“Tem muita gente boa que entende do assunto, mas não tem oportunidade de escrever para grandes veículos de comunicação. Algumas delas levam o Blog como uma espécie de trabalho e acho isso maravilhoso, pois, antes de qualquer coisa, é uma prova de amor ao cinema”.

“There are many good people who understand the subject, but has no opportunity of writing for large media outlets. Some of them take the blog as a kind of work and think it is wonderful because, before anything, is a proof of love for cinema.”

Revista do Cinema Brasileiro [Journal of Brazilian Cinema, pt] also made a report on the subject (available on Youtube, pt). In this video, Carlos Barcellar, from Doidos por Cinema Blog [Crazy about Film Blog, pt], values the interactivity with readers as a high point of the success of film blogs and the rise in demand:

“O interessante da internet é isso, tem uma interatividade que as pessoas que visitam os nosso blogs e tudo mais. Tem desde o garoto de 14 anos, de 10 anos, muita gente nova e também pessoas mais velhas. (…) Rola interatividade, a troca. Na verdade é um grande espaço de discussão”.

“What's interesting is that the Internet allows an interaction with people who visit our blogs. There is the 14 years old boy, the 10 year old, many new people and also older people. (…)We get a lot of interaction, exchange of ideas. Actually it is a great forum for discussion.”

In the same video, Mattheus Rocha says that exists in Brazil today a total of 970 blogs devoted to films and that this may be the reason for its strength and recognition as media.

In Brazil, there are two major film festivals, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and the São Paulo International Film Festival. Both occur between September and November, but start generating news and curiosity from August. This means that we are very close to a race for information about rare and unreleased films in Brazil.

"A Bonequinha Viu" Twitter account with 1.830 followers

This same time last year, a blogger, who later assumed the identity of “A Bonequinha Viu” [ “The doll who saw” – feminine, a joke on “O Bonequinho Viu” – masculine version, a notes system for films given by critics in a newspapers of Rio de Janeiro, pt), has created quite a controversy when she launched a Twitter account for the Rio International Film Festival even before they had their own official one. For a while, everybody thought that the account she created was the official one, resulting in more than a thousand followers in the first week, eager for information on the film selection of the year. The case was settled and the blogger opened a new twitter and blog account with the name “The Doll Who Saw”, but this is a great example of the huge demand for information about films in twittosfere and the blogosphere.

What it shows is that more than just creating an official website and having a press office, nowadays it has become important to embrace new media as a way to engage with the public who is seeking this kind of information.

This article was proofread by Marta Cooper.

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