This section features an interview with Professor Paula Halperin, PhD, a scholar interested in the history of cinema and television in 1950s – 1980s Brazil and Argentina and their relationship with the public sphere. She holds a PhD in Latin American History from the University of Maryland (2010). Currently, she is a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and the Director of the School of Film and Media Studies at Purchase College, SUNY, where she also is Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and Latin American History. Because of her work on cinema and television dramaturgy, as well as her contribution in the book History Teaching & Television Drama, we invited her for this virtual interview conducted in July 2024. In the conversation that follows, topics discussed include the impact of soap operas in Brazil, changes and transformations in dramatic writing and audiences, and how soap operas could be used as a teaching tool in the classroom.
