The rise of Brazilian directors Anselmo Duarte and Glauber Rocha occurred through different professional trajectories. Rocha working as a young film critic in Bahia and Duarte working his way through the Brazilian studio system as part of the leading actors. However, the two crossed paths amicably on the set of O Pagador de Promessas, Anselmo Duarte's 1962 film that won the Palme d'Or.