In the minds of many, the words Brazil and culture conjure up images of beaches, footballers and dancers in vivid carnival costumes. Filmmaking and cinema, on the other hand, haven’t always figured amongst Brazil’s cultural staples.

Repressed and censored by a military dictatorship throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, Brazilian filmmakers struggled to make an impact on audiences abroad. Shortly after the country’s return to democracy, the Ministry of Culture was closed and the state-supported film industry crumbled almost overnight. The consequent lack of funding caused Brazilian cinema to reach a low point in the early 1990s. Today, less than two decades after the collapse of the industry, Brazilian cinema is enjoying a renaissance, wowing audiences and critics alike.

So, why all the excitement over Brazilian cinema now? Since the start of 2008 Brazilian films have gone from strength to strength on the festival circuit.

In February 2008, director Jose Padilha’s controversial drama about police violence and corruption, Elite Squad, took Berlin Film Festival’s top award, the Golden Bear.

Another triumph followed at Cannes Film Festival in April. Sandra Corvelloni won the best actress award for her role in Walter Salles’ Linha de Passe. She plays a heavily pregnant, chain-smoking mother of four boys who are all in their own ways attempting to transcend their working-class lives.

Salles’ film was also nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or, as was Blindness, the latest offering from fellow Brazilian and director of City of God, Fernando Meirelles.

Brazilian films are all about favelas and violence, then? Indeed, one of the most celebrated Brazilian releases of the past years, 2003’s City of God, as well as this year’s Elite Squad, feature ultra-violent narratives set mainly in slums, or favelas, as they are known in Brazil. Both of these films, incidentally, were scripted by screenwriter Braulio Mantovani. Both films were widely acclaimed for their honesty and gripping storytelling, but condemned by certain critics for excessive depictions of violence.

At the time of its release, City of God — which has inspired a whole genre of imitators with its fast-paced editing and bright colors — was accused of glamorizing cruelty.

Similarly, Elite Squad has been said to promote fascism, as it depicts the often-brutal methods employed by Brazil’s special police force in the ongoing battle with drug gangs in the favelas. Variety magazine even dubbed Padilha’s oeuvre “a recruitment film for fascist thugs”, with Rambo style heroes.

But Padilha defends the film’s violent tone, insisting that it was necessary in order to drive home its message. “The bottom line is we are trying to say that the whole violence that goes on in Rio is mainly caused by ourselves and we can possibly undo that”, he told CNN.

Other Brazilian directors are taking a less bloody approach in telling the stories, of the working classes. Lucia Murat’s Mare, Nossa História de Amor, for example, is a musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in one of Rio’s hillside shantytowns — a novelty in Brazilian cinema.

Internet: <www.cnn.com> (adapted).