Cotidiano à sombra da barbárie: o filme Zona de Interesse (2023)

Abstract

Traditional historiography, for centuries, privileged only written documentation as a source. In view of this, the Annales School1 brought a significant transformation by expanding the concept of historical sources and questioning the traditional historical method. Over the decades, the third generation of Annales2 generated a historiographic current called "New History", which marks the definitive incorporation of cinema into the field of historiographic sources. Marc Ferro3 was one of the pioneers to propose the use of cinema as a source and historical representation, shifting the focus from the film as an object of art to also showing its potential as a historical document. Ferro argues that cinema is not just a passive reflection of society, but acts as an “agent of history”. This means that, in addition to representing events and presenting narratives, it has the power to shape the way people see the past and present. From the beginning, cinema served several purposes: Initially as an agent of history. Chronologically, it initially appeared as an instrument of scientific progress: the works of Eadweard Muybridge and Marey4 were presented to the Academy of Sciences. [...] At the same time, since cinema became an art, its pioneers began to intervene in history with films, documentaries or fiction, which, since their origins, under the guise of representation, indoctrinate and glorify.