In this article, we present the results of the research that
focused on the history of the Odeon amusement room, built in Belém
do Pará, Brazil, at the beginning of the 20th century. In the light of
reception studies, the research aimed to raise elements that allowed
inferences about the profile of the public and the nature of the films
exhibited during the 1910s, in the context of an Amazon city, which
was experiencing economic and migratory impacts of the First Cycle
of Rubber Exploitation (1850 to 1920). For the operationalization of
the methodology of the studies, we visited the memories of the
pioneer of Spanish cinema, Ramón de Baños Martínez, about his
period in the capital of Pará, hired as a projectionist, camera operator
and photographer. We also sought to gather information about
Odeon's programming, in the pages of the newspaper O Estado do
Pará, a periodical founded in 1911. Theoretical-methodological
movement guided by Bernardet and Mascarello, regarding the need
for research on the History of Brazilian Cinema to go beyond the field
of film production. The investigation revealed, among other aspects,
that even given the predominance of showing imported, European and
North American films, the public was always eager for national and,
above all, local productions, applauded after facing long lines and in
late-night sessions. It also reveals the colossal audiences of
pornographic films, exclusively for male audiences, sold as a
miraculous elixir for the problems of sexuality.
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