RIP Carlos Diégues

 

Cacá Diégues, renowned Brazilian filmmaker and leading figure in Cinema Novo, dies at 84

Carlos Diégues, one of Brazil’s most renowned filmmakers, has died in Rio de Janeiro, aged 84, the Brazilian Academy of Letters said

ABC News

By The Associated Press

February 14, 2025

 

Carlos Diégues, the renowned Brazilian filmmaker, died Friday in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Academy of Letters said. He was 84.

The director of more than 20 films, including “Xica da Silva” and “Bye Bye Brazil,” Diégues was a leading figure in Cinema Novo, a movement that emerged in the 1960s and used film to critique social inequality, drawing inspiration from the French New Wave and Italian neorealism.

The filmmaker, widely known as Cacá Diégues, suffered complications after surgery, the academy said in a statement.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Diégues’ films reflected Brazil ’s history, identity and creativity.

“I received with great sorrow the news of the passing of Cacá Diégues, who throughout his life brought Brazil and Brazilian culture to the movie screens and captured the attention of the entire world,” Lula said.

“Bye Bye Brazil,” a road movie about a country in transition, competed for the Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, Diégues produced “5x Favela,” a film entirely conceived, written and directed by young filmmakers from Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished communities.

GIEGUES, Carlos

Born: 5/19/1946, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

Died: 2/14/2025, Rio de Janiero, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

Carlos Diégues’ westerns – director, writer, sound department:

Black God, White Devil – 1964 [sound department]

Luzia – 1988 [writer]

Bacurau – 2019 [director]