Marielle’s Legacy Will not Die

On April 19, 2023, the Institute for Ethnography research, in partnership with the student associations Em’brace and Olympe, organized a conference-screening-debate around the work of Leonard Cortana, a doctoral student in Film Studies at the University of New York and a research affiliate at the Internet and Society Center of Harvard University.
His short film (22 minutes), Marielle’s Legacy Will Not Die, produced as part of his doctoral research, retraces the struggle of Brazilian women activists who fight for justice for Marielle Franco, a black and lesbian city councilor in Rio de Janeiro. Coming from the favelas, she was brutally murdered in March 2018, in the city center, by two retired military police officers.
Before the screening, Leonard Cortana gave an introductory lecture to contextualize the film and connect it to his research. Following the screening, he engaged in a debate and exchanged ideas with the audience, addressing the issues of visual ethnography.