You probably have opened a musician’s comment section and caught the following: ‘‘Come to Brasil.’’ That, or multiple flags of the country. Turning the online meme — or more like clamor— into a documentary that premiered in July, Lina Bascal explores Brazil’s passionate pop fanbases and the global evolution of fandom. To capture it, she followed four fans of singers like Beyoncé, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift from Rio de Janeiro. And through their conversations, poignant themes like why many artists don’t go to the country, fans’ faith that they might one day, and how, in Madonna’s own words, ‘‘music brings the people together’’ shone through her lens.
In a sit down with the director, Bascal tells Lazy Women how a majority of women, 90% Latinx worked behind the camera, and what changes in fandom coverage and entertainment when they do it.
- What made you want to cover Brazil fandoms?
I have been aware of the phrase “come to Brazil” for a long time just as an avid internet user and lover of pop culture. After I made my first film, Stud Country I was thinking about what I wanted to do next and this called to me because it’s also something that may feel niche but ultimately touches on core human themes of connection and faith.
I looked and saw that no one at any tier had made a documentary about it and was really surprised, it felt even more affirming that I should give it a shot.
- What did you want people to feel when watching it?
For audiences to connect to the characters and their passion and resilience. Even if you aren’t a pop music lover, let alone a superfan, I believe the themes are actually much more universal than it may seem at first glance. It’s about belief and belonging, devotion and distance. I wanted to establish the ubiquity of “come to brazil” comments and dive into why they’re left and the facts behind the lack of tours coming to Brazil, but more importantly I wanted to lead with a human-first approach through the fans’ stories.
- The film was made with an all-women crew. How did that come together, and was that intentional from the beginning?
We had a few men including one producer and our camera assistants and sound recordists, but it was an overwhelmingly female crew which is very rare and amazing, especially when it comes to cinematography, editing, and sound design which are often male dominated.
Being around women was very comforting and reassuring. This is only my second short and it’s my solo directorial project so having a very judgement free place to learn and experiment both on set and before we began with prep and after in post made me feel empowered and confident. The process felt very collaborative, from Gemma (Director of Photography) and I meeting in advance to review coffee table books of Brazilian street photography or her making me an entire presentation to explain the way different lenses impacted the look, to Dri (Editor) and I’s near-year long editing process working together in person playing around.
- What did having women behind the camera change about the way the film was made, if anything?
I think it’s likely that the subjects, who are women, nonbinary, and gay men felt more comfortable with Gemma’s (Director of Photography) energy and eye. She’s very welcoming and in the actual footage, her gentleness shows especially in the “glamour shots” we have of each subject which is what I called the straight-to-camera no dialogue posed shots we took of each of them. The direction I gave was to do a pose or movement inspired by your idol of choice.
- You told me the crew was also majority-Latinx. How was that important to you?
I’m American-born of Chilean heritage, and though I often feel very disconnected from it, I’m working on not minimizing it because I’m interested in finding ways to explore it and connect. Because this is a Latin American story, it was very important to me to have Latin American, particularly Brazilian people working on it.
For certain parts of the storyline, especially how we presented things like the “stray dog syndrome” phenomenon, it was very important to have Brazilian people making sure this was presented in good faith and done in an informative but never condescending way.
- What can happen when more women and Latinx creatives are given the opportunity to work behind the camera?
Anything and everything. A big point of the film is humanizing and showcasing these female and queer fans that are critical to an artists’ success. In pop music you can’t succeed without the buy-in of these groups, and yet they aren’t taken seriously and are presented as hysterical and ridiculous. I hope this film shows the intelligence and humanity that they possess and why they can make or break an artist and drive where and how they tour.
- What do you hope young women and Latinx creatives take away from seeing this team behind Come to Brasil?
I hope people feel inspired to find stories and make art with their communities that honor those communities but also can reach far outside them.
- In your own words, why does it matter who gets to tell the fandom story?
I think there is a version of a documentary about this phenomenon that feels very outsider, and I hope that through my own experience finding community online and being such a fan and lover of live music, this feels intimate and soft, not like a news segment or reaction-bait.
Written by Ana Beatriz Reitz Gameiro
Ana Beatriz Reitz Gameiro is a Brazilian freelance journalist covering fashion, entertainment, beauty, and culture. Her work has appeared in publications such as Vogue Business, FASHIONISTA, Business Insider, Polyester, and Everything Is Political.
