The Cinematographic Unconscious of Slum Voyeurism

This article examines how films set in the informal settlements of the Global South are exhibited and awarded at international festivals because of their authentic evocation of “third world” reality. According to the discourse of global news and aid organizations, the metropolitan areas of developing nations are congested megacities, which are encapsulated by the squalor, criminality, and violence of the slum. The article analyzes acclaimed works of Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza, which are controversial for being examples of poverty porn. The effort of such films to create authentic realism inevitably generates an excess of meaning that subverts the prevailing urban discourse.