À Luz de Helena Ignez ou cada uma tem o seu jeito de dizer as coisas: antropologias, extratos, cinemas, acasos

Abstract

Helena Ignez, the character Jarda Ícone, and Joy Is the Acid Test, a 2023 film, are the central themes of this research, which explores, within the interstices of anthropology and cinema, ways of producing knowledge. Based on conversations with Helena Ignez and people connected to her work, as well as the realization of the film exhibition À Luz de Helena - Helena Ignez no cinema brasileiro (In the Light of Helena - Helena Ignez in Brazilian Cinema), the dissertation connects how images, curatorial and creative practices can activate relationships, memories, temporalities, and contexts. Methodologically, my work articulates ethnographic writing and montage as an analytical principle, where extracts and coincidences are fundamental. Thus, cinema is not merely an object of research, but a relational field. The dissertation contributes to debates on the creation of anthropological fields, cinematic refuges, image-landscapes, authorship disputes, and performance. This research aims to reflect on the work of Helena Ignez in light of anthropological theory. Whether films, anthropologies, or ethnographies, each has its own way of expressing things.