The Cruspian Experience

Overview

The Cruspian Experience is a documentary made in June 1986 about CRUSP, the University of São Paulo’s student housing complex, from its occupation by students fighting for housing in 1963. The CRUSP portrayed in the film was an important center of political resistance to the military dictatorship during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a space for diverse forms of community life and experimentation in the 1980s. The documentary features accounts by José Dirceu, then a student and later a prominent Brazilian politician who went on to serve as a minister during Lula’s government and was subsequently convicted and imprisoned on corruption charges. The documentary was directed by Nilson Queiróz Couto and received the “Prêmio Estímulo” (Incentive Award) from the São Paulo State Secretariat of Culture.