Both medium-length films take a hybrid form and feature non-professional performers from Uchôa’s hometown of Contagem. The films are not only explicit in their political position, but also remarkably precise in form, driven by the filmmaker’s exacting compositions, rhythmic montage and emphasis on language as the fundamental fabric of our experience.
The minimalist and unvarnished Seven Years in May recounts and reconstructs an episode of police violence, allowing the event to emerge through the trauma that continues to shape the life of its victim. In Uchôa’s latest film, Discipline, a conflict between a well-meaning but inexperienced high-school teacher and a student gradually develops into a reflection on education, class, community, and the state as an apparatus of punishment and control.
Taken together, the films offer not only an invaluable and critical insight into contemporary Brazilian society, but also confirm Uchôa as one of the country’s leading cinematic talents.
18:00 Introduction by curator Jesse Cumming
18:10 Film screening
Seven Years in May / Sete Anos em Maio, Affonso Uchôa, 2019, 42 min
Discipline / Disciplina, Affonso Uchôa, 2026, 45 min
The programme is curated by Jesse Cumming and supported by Fritt Ord. Presented in collaboration with MIRAGE.
Affonso Uchôa is a Brazilian filmmaker and screenwriter. He was born in São Paulo in 1984 and studied film at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. His films include A Vizinhança do Tigre (2014), Arábia (2017), co-directed with João Dumans, and Seven Dogs (2021). His work has screened at festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastián International Film Festival, Visions du Réel and IndieLisboa.
About the guest curator
Jesse Cumming (he/him) is a curator, writer and producer. He is Associate Curator of the Wavelengths section at the Toronto International Film Festival, a member of the selection committee for Open City Documentary Festival, and a consultant for Berlinale Forum. He previously worked as a film programmer at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and in 2026 co-curated MoMA’s Doc Fortnight Festival. He is a producer at Norway’s Stær Films.
