Digital Ashes

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Film/Video

VAI! (2020)
doc. 20’ | Brazil, Germany

(EN) GO!
(ES) ¡VAMOS!
(FR) ALLEZ!

Research / Editing / Image and Sound
Bruno Christofoletti Barrenha

Sinopsis: Corinthians has spent 23 years without winning a title. Its fanbase, however, only grew and became more and more present: both in the life of the team and in the political life of the country.  


“GO!” recalls Corinthians’ 23-year trophy-less streak, partly coinciding with the military dictatorship period in Brazil. Between 1954 and 1977, the club did not win any trophies, and even so, its fans were the fastest growing in the country – and perhaps they would be the biggest today if the Zico Era did not boost their biggest rival in popularity, Flamengo.

More than that, Corinthians has established the idea that it is a “people’s team”, something that not all the numbers and crowded stadiums will be able to express. In the representative mosaic of the filmmaker, we find the nostalgic aura of the productions that rescue football as a cultural manifestation of great impact, but also finds room to dwell on the reasons that took the club from São Paulo to this level. Presented in a year when audiovisual preservation gained even more relevance, in an unprecedented crisis at the Brazilian Cinematheque, “GO!” also serves to register here the news that part of the collection of Canal 100, fundamental for the making of the short film, may have been totally destroyed in the last months.

For those who love exemption and still resist the idea of politicisation of culture, sport seems to be the great example of togetherness of individuals independent of ideology. However, know that football’s past only exists because audiovisual production was there – and preservation of these works has been carried out. Garrincha’s dribbles and Sócrates’ gesture with his right arm raised, with his fist sawed, have remained alive beyond the memories of those who witnessed them because we have preserved the creations and the looks of filmmakers of the period. Outside, headlines about the Board of Directors’ resistance to accept the Corinthians Democracy movement and Gaviões da Fiel’s participation in the 2020 anti-fascist protests also make up the work.
On the nostalgic wing, the film reminds one of a good reunion with the Football Museum, located in the same São Paulo as Corinthians. Classic narrations and sound recordings of the fans, of a club that – after a long dry spell – has come to question the sanity of those who insist on rooting for it. “Bunch of crazy people”, “I am not wrong, my heart belongs to Corinthians”, among other words and representations contained in “GO!” and that show that it will always be much more than football.

Originally written in Portuguese by Jorge Cruz Jr. (25/06/2021). In: https://apostiladecinema.com.br/sessao-cine-praca-16a-cine-op/

“GO!” is not only a love letter to the fans of Corinthians, but a cut that discusses the importance of understanding football through a materialistic perspective. One of the interviewees at one point says “I may skip work, but I came to watch Corinthians playing.” That is what football is about. It is not about the alienation that part of the intellectuals of the dominant class try to accuse. It is not the technicist fantasy that the Europeans try to impose. It is worth remembering that “várzea” refers to the rivers Pinheiros, Tamanduateí and Tietê [all located in São Paulo]. Bruno manages to stitch this matter together through time and brings us to contemporary times where Corinthians’ fans demonstrated in favor of democracy, again, but now in a pandemic scenario. The short film manages to trace part of the movement through these demonstrations and Brazilian history. Not just improvisation, more than life or death, Brazilian football is a materialistic synthesis.

Originally written in Portuguese by Vitor Velloso (28/06/2021). In: https://vertentesdocinema.com/vai/


Awards:
- Best Short Film; 5. Festival de Cine de Fútbol Minuto 90 (Peru).
- Best Editing; 3. JED – Jornada de Estudos do Documentário (Brazil).
Film Festivals (in order of screening):
- 5. Festival de Cine de Fútbol Minuto 90 (Peru);
- 11. CINEfoot – Festival de Cinema de Futebol (Brazil);
- 6. Arquivo em Cartaz – Festival Internacional de Cinema de Arquivo (Brazil);
- 6. MADRIFF – Madrid Indie Film Festival (Spain);
- 6. FICMARC – Festival Internacional de Cine del Mar Caribe (Venezuela);
- 1. Atemporal – Festival Itinerante de Cine Latinoamericano (Peru);
- 16. CineOP – Mostra de Cinema de Ouro Preto (Brazil);
- 5. Festival ECRÃ de Experimentações Audiovisuais (Brazil);
- 21. FICICA – Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes Cine a la Calle (Colombia);
- 20. International Kansk Video Festival (Russia);
- 17. Festival Brésil en Mouvements (France);
- 6. TERCER TIEMPO – Festival Mundial de Cine Futbolero (Colombia);
- 7. Festival de Cortometrajes Rodando en Bicicleta (Colombia);
- 3. SAFF – St. Andrews Film Festival (Scotland);
- 3. JED – Jornada de Estudos do Documentário (Brazil);
- 14. MOSCA – Mostra Audiovisual de Cambuquira (Brazil);
- 8. Filmstrip International Film Festival (Romania);
- 7. Filmfest Bremen (Germany).