The article intends to analyze the intersections between cinema, public history and the circularity of historical knowledge. The reflections are developed following the study of the film Chico Rei (directed by Walter Lima Jr., 1985). The dimensions of public history are considered as a space for the production and dissemination of historical knowledge, in dialogue with other areas, not necessarily academic ones. The film with a historical theme is discussed in view of historical knowledge following the analysis of the social imageries present in the films, that are built in the interface between historiography and other narrative fields such as literature, music and carnival.