October 22 - National Color Day

 

Happy National Color Day! Today focuses on the impact color has on each of us. The observance takes place each year on October 22. Color is powerful. It can affect a mood, draw attention, even cause alarm.   

It is hard to imagine the world without color. Without color, we would nearly be blind.  Doctors check for health through the color of a patient’s skin.  

On a late, crisp autumn morning, sparkling frost and leaves changing from green to vermillion signal a change of seasons. A flush of color in the cheeks of a friend sends a cue of her embarrassment.  

The street light turns from green to yellow to red. In the Grand Canyon, layers of sediment range in color from black to pale ash. All these signs alert us to change through color. 

Imagine a world without chrysocolla. This mineral formed from hydrated copper phyllosilicate develops colors from a brilliant cyan to jade green.  

From darkening skies before a storm to the undulating fragile glow of the aurora borealis, color in nature moves us to pause and enjoy or to warn us of impending danger. Long before colors had names, they served a purpose. 

Colors accent our homes and feed our creativity, allowing us to express ourselves. 

Open a box of crayons or watercolors, and artists of any age lose themselves in a world of their own creation for hours. 

Different colors are perceived to mean different things. The following is one rendition of the perceived meaning of the various colors in the United States.

 

• Red: Excitement – Love – Strength 
  
• Yellow:  Competence – Happiness 
  
• Green:  Good Taste – Envy – Relaxation 
  
• Blue:  Corporate – High Quality 
  
• Pink:  Sophistication – Sincerity 
  
• Violet/Purple:   Authority – Power 
  
• Brown:  Ruggedness 
  
• Black:   Grief – Fear 
  
• White: Happiness – Purity. 

HOW TO OBSERVE 

 
Explore the use of color in your life. Take in the vast and ever-changing array of shades available to you. Express yourself through color and use #NationalColorDay to post on social media. 

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpbltecVYoY 

 
HISTORY 

 
National Day Calendar® continues researching the origins of this colorful holiday. 

 
What is your favorite color? 

 
#NationalColorDay 

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@nichecinema 

October 22 - Nelson Pereira dos Santos

Happy Birthday, Nelson Pereira dos Santos! Born today in 1928, this Brazilian film director was instrumental in elevating the cinema of his country, often despite government repression and lack of financial support. 

Born in São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil, Santos, years later, studied law at the University of São Paulo and practiced journalism and teaching.  

Although his true love was cinema, he first worked as a journalist and critic. However, he had been strongly influenced by the Italian neorealist movement. 

After graduating the University of Sāo Paulo, Santos traveled to Paris, France. where he enrolled at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) film school.  

Upon graduation, he returned to Brazil, where he made two shorts in São Paolo. After this, he then moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he became an assistant director. 

It was here that he conceived the story, co-wrote and directed his first feature film for his directorial debut. 

The film is a chronicle of life in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and it influenced several other directors, spurring the Cinema Novo (Portuguese for "New Cinema"). 
 

This was a genre and movement of film noted for its emphasis on social equality and intellectualism that rose to prominence in Brazil during the 1950s to early 1970s.  

The movement had been influenced by Soviet cinema, Italian Neorealism and Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave). 

In 1963, Santos was a member of the jury at the 3rd Moscow Film Festival in July of that same year. 

One month later, Santos released the film of which he is best known for writing and directing. 

This was the 1963 Brazilian black and white drama film 'Vidas Secas' ('Barren Lives'). The title of the film also means 'Dry Lives'; Pre-Reform spelling: 'Vidas sêcas'. 

'Barren Lives' was based off of Brazilian modernist writer, politician and journalist Graciliano Ramos' revered 1938 fiction novel of the same name. 

The film depicts the lives of a poor family in the dry northeastern region of Brazil. 

Focusing on Fabiano and his wife, Sinha Vitoria (Maria Ribeiro), and their two boys and cherished dog.  

'Barren Lives' follows the family as they move around in search of work that will allow them to survive in the harsh, unforgiving environment. Today, the film is widely regarded as a classic of Brazil's Cinema Novo movement. 

The following year, 'Barren Lives' was entered into the 17th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the OCIC Award.  

This was tied with Jacques Damy's ('Lola', 'The Young Girls of Rochefort') 1964 French Technicolor French/West German musical/romance drama film 'Les Parapluies de Cherbourg' ('The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'). 

In 1981, Santos was a member of the jury at the 12th Moscow Film Festival in July of that same year.  

In 1986, Santos was a member of the jury at the 43rd Venice Film Festival. In 1993, he was a member of the jury at the 50th Venice Film Festival. 

Since 2006, Santos had been a member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) or Brazilian Academy of Letters. He was also the first filmmaker to have been elected as a member. 

This is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century by a group of forty writers and poets inspired by the Académie Française. 

Years later, Pereira dos Santos passed from multiple organ failure at the Hospital Samaritano in Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 21, 2018. He was 89. 
 

According to his personal life, Santos was married to Ivelise Ferreira. They had four children together. 

Ferreira had been credited as Director of Production on the 2012 Brazilian color/black and white (archive footage) documentary/music film 'A Música Segundo Tom Jobim' ('The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim'). For this, Santos had co-directed the film.

Among his credits, Santos is also known for directing 'O Amuleto de Ogum'('The Amulet of Ogum') (1974), 'Tenda dos Milagres' ('Tent of Miracles')(1977), and the three-and-a-half hour 'Memórias do Cárcere' ('Memories of Prison')(1984). 

Santos had been active from 1955–2018. 

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