Manifest

We are a collective of Female Production Designers in Brasil who intend to unite women, trans people, non-binary and any other form of minority gender expression. We are present in all of Brazil’s regions and seek for equity, solidarity and cooperation in the Brazilian audio-visual expression.

For the last decade, the presence of women has escalated considerably in the market, especially in the Arts Department. Today, we represent approximately 57% of the professionals in Production Design in work of fiction, according to recent data from ANCINE. This achievement was due to individual and collective efforts, committed to creating space that seemed previously unattainable, although we still have a long way before us, to women and for those of the underrepresented groups. Although we are the majority among the professionals, the female participation is not reflected in projects with major visibility and budget, these are still being led by white, cisgender, males. It does not reflect either in hiring, salaries, awards and professional appreciation.

Proud of the path travelled so far, however, conscious of all that there is still to conquer, BRA.DA is here to promote affirmative actions against inequality of opportunities within this culture of non-appreciation of the work of women. We seek to build a field where we may engage professionals and facilitate the action of art teams with gender, colour and social background representation. Identifying, recognizing, disseminating and appreciating the different production realities in our country.

We understand that unity, dialogue and exchange are the driving forces of the change we are eager to see. We believe in multiple knowledge, ways of creating and forms of accomplishment, apart from those nurtured by the modus operandi in the RJ-SP axis. We add discourse and history. We have interest in diversity and pluralism and it is our proposal that this collective movement is forged by all people whose existence is permeated by prejudice or discrimination, be it by origin, colour of their skin, identity, gender or sexual orientation expression, and with these people, dialogue, learn, interact and work.

We long for a healthy and respectful work environment, free of harassment and racism. We long for compatibility between our professional activities and these times of caring, where there is room for active maternity and paternity, rest and leisure.

It is our intent, additionally, to fight for recognition and appreciation of Production Design in the development of cinematography. We deem urgent an analysis and revision of parameters of curatorship of festivals and awards, that many times refrain from the Best Production Design award and other related areas, such as costume design and make-up. We seek egalitarian measures related to hiring, salaries and accreditation, as well as the presence of qualified spaces for Production Design in the curriculum of all institutions dedicated to audio-visual expression.

We are a space for debate, learning, improvement and achievements, in constant renovation and feedback. We are agents of propositions, mediation, articulation and development, in the social and artistic scope, of the Brazilian Audio-visual Art Department.

We are here! We are BRA.DA!