Cacá Diegues, renowned Brazilian filmmaker and leading figure in Cinema Novo, dies at 84

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SAO PAULO (AP) — Carlos Diegues, the renowned Brazilian filmmaker, died Friday in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Academy of Letters said. He was 84.

The director of more than 20 films, including “Xica da Silva” and “Bye Bye Brazil,” Diegues was a leading figure in Cinema Novo, a movement that emerged in the 1960s and used film to critique social inequality, drawing inspiration from the French New Wave and Italian neorealism.

The filmmaker, widely known as Cacá Diegues, suffered complications after surgery, the academy said in a statement.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Diegues’ films reflected Brazil ’s history, identity and creativity.

“I received with great sorrow the news of the passing of Cacá Diegues, who throughout his life brought Brazil and Brazilian culture to the movie screens and captured the attention of the entire world,” Lula said.

“Bye Bye Brazil,” a road movie about a country in transition, competed for the Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, Diegues produced “5x Favela,” a film entirely conceived, written and directed by young filmmakers from Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished communities.