A film that scrutinizes the idea of “soft racism” and how it comes to drink from the exalted Portuguese colonialism. The titular Rosinha is a Guinean native who became the symbol of the first Portuguese colonial exhibition presented by the Estado Novo in 1934. A trip to the past to better understand the present.
“Despite the propaganda effort made in recent years, the Colonies are still ignored by the majority of these colonizing people. There are still many people who ask us: what use are the Colonies to us? Since it is impossible to take all the Portuguese to the Colonies, we have tried to provide a lesson, bringing from the colonies what can practically contribute to allow an accurate and conscious knowledge of them. The first Portuguese colonial exhibition must be the lesson in colonialism that has not yet been given to our people!” This is the opening speech of the director of the colonial exhibition that in 1934 brought to the gardens of the Pálácio de Cristal, in Oporto, the recreation of the indigenous villages and “specimens” of the peoples who inhabited them. Rosinha came with it from Guinea and is present in several official films and images. But who is Rosinha? Who are the historical Rosinhas who made us believe in the lesson of the Estado Novo and who perhaps explain how we have come to believe that “Portugal is not a racist country”. The film asks us this question at the beginning and then asks itself “does it make sense to start the film like this?” Throughout this documentary the history of fascist propaganda appears like a dark mirror that we find it hard to look into. Portugal is a country with an untold History, and this film is a beautiful way of countering this silence. (Margarida Moz)
