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

Total Runtime: 87 min

In this righteous, forceful diptych, Brazilian auteur Affonso Uchôa offers a critical examination of power and dominance as exercised by his nation’s institutions, particularly as experienced by its racialized youth. Hybrid in nature - working with non-professionals from his home city of Contagem - these two midlengths are not only lucid in their political stance but crystalline in form, guided by the filmmaker’s refined compositions, rhythmic montage and emphasis on language as the fabric of our experience.

Minimal and unadorned, Seven Years in May (Sete Anos em Maio) recounts and recreates an episode of police violence, refracting the experience through its victim’s lingering trauma. With his newest film Discipline (Disciplina) a conflict between a well-intentioned but inexperienced high school teacher and a student gradually opens up into a reflection on education, class, camaraderie, and the carceral state. Seen together they not only provide an invaluable, critical look at contemporary Brazilian society, but also confirm Uchôa as one of the country’s preeminent talents.

Affonso Uchoa is a Brazilian filmmaker and screenwriter. Born in São Paulo in 1984, he studied film at the Federal University of 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 the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastián International Film Festival, Visions du Réel, IndieLisboa, and more.

Jesse Cumming (he/him) is a curator, writer, researcher, and producer. He is the Associate Curator for the Wavelengths section at Toronto International Film Festival, a member of the selection committee for Open City Documentary Festival, and a consultant for the Berlinale Forum. Previously he served as a programmer with Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and in 2026 he co-curated MoMA’s Doc Fortnight Festival. He is a producer with Norway’s Stær Films.