At a time of growing conformism, social surveillance and critical indifference, the thematic cycle (im)moralities invites us to reflect on morality, social mores and the limits of transgression. Starting from the premise that morality is not an immutable set of principles but a social construct that must be continually questioned, the programme calls on cinema and other forms of artistic expression to unsettle, challenge conventions and open up space for thought.
The cycle presents three premieres that extend this reflection on contemporary forms of power, influence and transgression. In Musk, Alex Gibney examines Elon Musk’s rise and his growing influence on technology and public life, drawing on archival footage and interviews with people who know him well. You Can See Everything, by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, and Heysel 85, by Teodora Mihai, complete the selection, offering distinct cinematic perspectives on the present and its contradictions.
These questions find a broader resonance in a programme that brings together films from different periods and cinematic traditions, united by their challenge to established moral and aesthetic codes. Through irreverence, excess and the transgression of social taboos, these works expose the contradictions of the societies in which they emerge and question the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable. In Pink Flamingos (1972), John Waters pushes provocation to its limits, defying the codes of good taste and decency. In Daisies (1966), Věra Chytilová constructs an irreverent satire of social order and gender roles. Marco Ferreri’s The Big Feast (1973) turns excess into a form of dissent, while João César Monteiro’s God’s Comedy (1995) explores the relationship between desire, perversion and morality. In Anatomy of Hell (2004), Catherine Breillat confronts taboos surrounding the body and sexuality, while Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) lays bare the violence inherent in structures of power. Christophe Honoré’s My Mother (2004) further interrogates the boundaries between desire, transgression and prohibition.
The question of morality also extends into the political sphere, where legitimacy, responsibility and the exercise of power are called into question. In Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), democratic ideals collide with institutional corruption. In Errol Morris’s American Dharma (2018), the relationship between ideology, power and political responsibility comes under scrutiny. Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Hyenas (1992) explores the connections between money, revenge and justice, while Erich von Stroheim’s Greed (1924) traces the destruction of lives under the weight of avarice. In Carl Th. Dreyer’s Day of Wrath (1943), intolerance and religious fanaticism reveal the consequences of imposing a moral order.
The programme also revisits the Seven Deadly Sins through a selection of seven films, each devoted to one of the sins, alongside David Fincher’s Se7en (1995), which brings them together in a narrative in which a serial killer selects his victims according to the seven deadly sins. This exploration also encompasses the perspectives of women artists working across the seven arts, opening up a reflection on how behaviours deemed reprehensible are defined, represented and judged. Rather than simply reproducing a moral classification inherited from tradition, this approach invites us to question the values underpinning it and the perspectives from which ideas of virtue, guilt and transgression are constructed.
The reflection on morality also extends to the ethics of representation. The screening of Gillo Pontecorvo’s Kapo (1960) will be followed by an online conversation with French critic Jean Narboni around Jacques Rivette’s seminal essay On Abjection (1961), which questions the ethical legitimacy of formal choices in the representation of horror and historical violence.
The programme extends into other forms of artistic expression, bringing together cinema, performance, literature and critical thought. Luis Buñuel’s L’Âge d’Or (1930) will be accompanied by a live performance by Rodrigo Amado on saxophone and David Maranha on percussion and organ. The spoken word and literature also take centre stage, with readings of Georges Bataille by Angélica Liddell, Sade by Catarina Wallenstein and Jean Genet by Béatrice Dalle. The cycle also includes a listening party featuring “Fronteira do Medo”, an episode of the Fumaça podcast, followed by a discussion on police violence.
Bringing together works from different periods and cinematographies, (im)moralities does not advocate transgression indiscriminately. It also asks which transgressions we wish to defend and which values we seek to resist. At a time when judgements are hardening and debate is narrowing, the cycle reasserts art’s capacity to unsettle consensus, challenge established conventions and restore our ability to think through discomfort.