Q&A: Daniel Barosa, Director of GRU-PDX

A Brazilian filmmaker on his love letter to Portland music.

Image Courtesy of Daniel Barosa

In 2013, Quarto Negro, a two-man atmospheric pop group from Brazil, flew to Portland to record an album with the help of another duo, the Helio Sequence, and brought filmmaker Daniel Barosa with them. What was initially meant as a documentary of the band's time in the studio became an outsider's exploration of an independent music community that simply doesn't exist anywhere in Quarto Negro's home country.

Mixing interviews with everyone from the Dandy Warhols to Bim Ditson, full-length performances culled from Into the Woods and visits to house shows and record stores, GRU-PDX, which opens the Portland Film Festival, paints an image of Portland as the sort of DIY oasis many feel is fading, if not already obsolete. It's sure to rankle the "Don't Move Here" brigade. But as Barosa explained from his home in Sao Paulo, he mostly just wants the people already living here to realize how good they've still got it.

WW: Did you have any conception of Portland before starting this project?

Daniel Barosa: The only thing I knew about Portland before going there was a couple bands from there that I liked. So, not much.

What surprised you the most about Portland?

Band-wise, there's so many styles, which is something I didn't expect. All the bands I knew from Portland had this similar style. But there are so many different kinds of bands there. In the film, there isn't much about it, but there's hip-hop and techno as well.

As you mention, there's no discussion of the hip-hop scene. Was that a conscious decision?

When we were doing research for other bands, we interviewed [Fresh Selects label head] Kenny Fresh, and when we talked to him, he was talking a lot about hip-hop, and we got this huge new list of more people to talk to. But we focused on indie music—rock and the variations of it—and we thought if we went too deep into all the other styles, it'd become a huge ball of snow that wouldn't work once we were in the editing room.

As an outsider, what was your sense about how artists feel about the future of Portland?

A lot of the people who've been there for a while, they don't like how the city has gotten so much hype. I had an impression people don't like where the future is going for the city.

What do you hope Portland audiences get from the movie?

I wanted to say, “This is the impression the city made on someone from way, way far away.” So I hope it makes them see Portland like the way I saw it, with a fresh take. Sometimes, when foreigners come to Sao Paulo, they see something and go, "€œLook at that! That's so cool!"€ and I go, "€œI know, that happens all the time."€ But when I see through their eyes, it'€™s like, "€œYeah, that is nice." So hopefully Portland will see the city like I saw it, like it'€™s something new, and not like the place where they live and they'€™re used to.

SEE IT: GRU-PDX screens at Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St., as part of the Portland Film Festival, on Tuesday, Sept. 1. 7:15 pm. $15-$50.

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