The short film Pequena África [Little Africa], directed by Zózimo Bulbul, was released in 2002. Firmo was the Director of Photography. The cast includes the actor and film director Waldir Onofre, known for directing the film As aventuras amorosas de um padeiro [The Loving Adventures of a Baker] (1975); Douglas Silva – famous for the role of Dadinho in Cidade de Deus [City of God] (2002); and Flávia Souza da Cruz, an acttress, singer, producer and one of the founders of the Aqualtune Association of Black Women (RJ).
Zózimo, as well as being an actor and director, was the creator of the Afro Carioca Film Center (2006) and the Brazil, Africa, Caribbean and other Diasporas Black Cinema Encounter (2007). The rapprochement of the two is an important political gesture on both sides. At that time, Zózimo was already a well-known black movement activist and one of the top Brazilian filmmakers. The encounter between Zózimo and Firmo is the encounter of two of the greatest expressions of afrovisuality in the diaspora.
2002 is an emblematic year for Brazilian cinema, but also for black activism. The issue of introducing quotas for black students in university admission processes was under public discussion, and the new policy started to be implemented in institutions such as The State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). In this context, “returning” to Pequena África was important. It was to go back to where it all started for most who arrived on this side of the Atlantic. It was the invocation of what is now called Ancestry. It was political.
In the opening scenes of Pequena África, we hear “Cordeiro de Nanã” and we see a wide shot of the facade of the Church of Sant’Ana, in Praça Onze in the center of Rio de Janeiro. Soon after, Douglas Silva introduces Pequena África neighborhood and appears talking to Tia Jurema, a long-time resident of this region of the city, which received more than a million enslaved Africans in its port. They are Walter Firmo’s first cinematic images. The framing, the color, the temporality of the film clearly have his signature.