Opening Night

Considered “amoral” and censored in its entirety by the Brazilian dictatorship, this film – now screened in a restored and remastered version – is an ode to desire and against all kind of sexist moralism, that has in its foundations the control of women’s sexuality through narratives about sex. By recounting the ventures of the players of the Gayvotas Futebol Club, a pioneer all-female team that challenged the conservative norms of its time, supported by icons of Brazilian soccer such as Casagrande, Wladimir, and Pitta – central figures of the Democracia Corintiana –, Onda Nova not only talks about Brazil’s slow regulation of female soccer, but also explores familial and personal issues of its cisgender players, placing these stories in the context of a period of severe political repression, and highlighting that – although patriarchal stances frequently produce discrepancies between the behaviors of cis men and women – such differences are simply learned, and in no way innate or “natural”. H.P.