Gustavo PT Furtado

Gustavo PT Furtado is an Associate Professor of Romance Studies and Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University, part of the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University (2012). His research focuses on Latin American cinema, particularly Brazilian documentary practices, archival film methodologies, and intersections of cinema with memory, law, and environmental studies. Furtado is co-director of the Amazon Lab at Duke's John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute and has served as Director of Graduate Studies in Romance Studies.

Teaching interests include film studies, Latin American cultural history, and interdisciplinary approaches to visual media. Courses taught span introductory film studies to specialized seminars like "Memory and Documentary Cinema in Latin America" and "Perspectives on the Amazon." His work bridges film theory, postcolonial studies, and environmental humanities.

Research highlights include Documentary Filmmaking in Contemporary Brazil: Cinematic Archives of the Present (Oxford, 2019) and articles analyzing indigenous cinema, Amazonian cartography in film, and legal procedures in documentary. He frequently collaborates with filmmakers like Maria Augusta Ramos and Mari Correa.

Affiliations include the Franklin Humanities Institute and multiple academic societies. His interdisciplinary projects address urgent topics like environmental justice and cultural memory in Latin America, reflecting a commitment to both scholarly rigor and public engagement.