A former poet, journalist and film critic, Carlos Diegues emerged as one of the foremost proponents of Brazil's Cinema Novo movement (akin to the French New Wave). Since making his first features in the early 1960s, he has explored various aspects of Brazilian life in political, social and historical contexts, with particular emphasis on slavery and its legacy to his native land's culture. Diegues is nothing if not passionate, but that passion comes at a price. Perhaps the most common criticism of his work is that his films are not audience friendly; they demand scrupulous attention but to
