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OLIVEIRA, Rosana Medeiros de; SILVA, Érica Quinaglia. “Interview with Debora Diniz about the film The House of the Dead“.in: Vibrant – Virtual Brazilian Anthropology, v. 9, n. 2. July to December 2012. Brasília, ABA. Available at http://www.vibrant.org.br/issues/v9n2/rosana-m-de-oliveira-erica-q-silva-interview-with-debora-diniz-about-the-film-the-house-of-the-dead/

Interview

Abstract

The present interview with the anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Debora Diniz discusses her film The House of the Dead, a narrative about institutions for the criminally insane in Brazil. In this conversation, Debora Diniz explores several topics: the idea of the film; the construction of the script based on a native poem; and the ethical, aesthetical and political perspectives involved in an ethnographic activist film. The interview describes her fieldwork in the mental asylum, exploring the ethical challenges of representing the pain of others. The tension between truth and reliability in an ethnographic film is also explored among the technical features of the film.
Keywords: The House of the Dead, madness, crime, visual anthropology.