Cinema – Trinh T. Minh-ha – Reassemblage

On November 21, as part of the public program of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, there will be a screening of the film Reassemblage (1982), by Trinh T. Minh-ha. Lasting 40 minutes, the film is the result of her field research carried out in rural areas of Senegal between 1977 and 1981.

The work is self-reflexive and takes into account both how we represent the historical past and what is being portrayed. Instead of observing the world through documentary lenses, self-reflexive documentaries invite us to see the documentary for what it is: a construction or interpretation.

Reassemblage offers sharp criticism of the cinematographic strategies common in the conventions of classic documentary cinema, especially in the ethnographic field. The director considers these strategies to be heirs to a colonialist, sexist, biased and ethnocentric approach.