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It's the Earth Not the Moon

Name: It's the Earth Not the Moon
Director: Gonçalo Tocha
Released: 2012
Duration: 193 min

Representation Score

3.5/10

Limited

2012

Director

Gonçalo Tocha

Runtime

193 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The documentary functions as a longitudinal anthropological study of Corvo, an isolated Azorean community. Its primary value lies in its cultural preservation, using a logbook structure to document a civilization that lacks extensive written records. By focusing on oral traditions and mythology, the film provides a meaningful look at a non-Western, localized way of life. However, the film lacks explicit focus on modern identity politics. There is no discernible representation of LGBTQ+ identities or specific explorations of gender roles and disability. The narrative prioritizes the collective history of the island over individual multi-layered identities. Ultimately, the film succeeds as a critique of hyper-connected, modern society. It offers a rare glimpse into a static, centuries-old social fabric, even if it avoids the specific social justice frameworks found in contemporary cinema.

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Category Breakdown

Does It's the Earth Not the Moon have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film focuses on anthropological records and mythological storytelling. There is no evidence of LGBTQ+ characters or narratives addressing non-straight relationships.

How does It's the Earth Not the Moon portray gender?

Fair

The documentary offers a neutral observation of social structures through its study of contemporary life. It does not explicitly detail character arcs regarding gender hierarchy.

How racially and ethnically diverse is It's the Earth Not the Moon?

Fair

The film explores the specific, isolated Azorean population of Corvo. It provides a platform for non-Anglo-Saxon cultural expression through lost archives and local myths.

How does It's the Earth Not the Moon represent religion and culture?

Good

The narrative challenges Western-centric dominance by elevating a remote, traditional way of existence. It prioritizes localized, mythological, and autobiographical truths over institutionalized histories.

Does It's the Earth Not the Moon include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no evidence that disability or neurodivergence are central themes. The film does not utilize physical impairment as a plot device.

Present on Screen

Provides a deep, non-Western perspective on an isolated civilization.
Challenges modern, hyper-connected narratives through its focus on traditional life.
Uses mythological and autobiographical stories to preserve local history.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or narratives.
Does not address disability or neurodivergence as central themes.
Provides limited exploration of specific gender hierarchies or roles.

Official Synopsis

A cameraman and a soundman arrive in Corvo in 2007, the smallest island in the archipelago of the Azores. Right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Corvo is a large rock, 6km high and 4km long, with the crater of a volcano and a single tiny village of 440 people. Gradually, this small filming crew is accepted by the island’s population as its new inhabitants, two people to add to a civilization almost 500 years old, whose history is hardly discernible, such is the lack of records and written memories. Shot at a vertiginous pace throughout a few years, self‐produced between arrivals, departures and coming‐backs, “It’s the Earth not the Moon” develops as the logbook of a ship, and turns out as a patchwork of discoveries and experiences, which follow the contemporary life of a civilization isolated in the middle of the sea. A long atlantic film‐odissey, divided in 14 chapters, that combines anthropological records, literature, lost archives, mythological and autobiographical stories.

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