In the minds of many, the words Brazil and culture conjure up images of beach, footballers and dancers in vivid carnival costumes. Filmmaking and cinema on the other hand, haven’t always figured amongst Brazil’s cultural staples.
Today, after decades of film censorship by a military dictatorship and the eventual collapse of the industry in the 90s, Brazilian cinema is enjoying a renaissance, wowing audiences and critics alike.
For the eighth consecutive year, the Brazilian Film Festival returns, bringing a selection of feature-length films to the capita. Organised by the Pharos Arts Foundation and the Honorary Consulate of Brazil, in collaboration with the Embassy of Brazil in Cyprus, the Brazilian Film Festival, will screen a slew of films, as part of a series of events organised throughout autumn specifically to showcase the arts and culture of Brazil.
Not many Latin American films make it to our theatres, so this is the perfect chance for film buffs or anyone curious about learning more about our Portuguese speaking, southern neighbours.
From tomorrow until Tuesday the annual Festival will screen a total of six films in their original language with English subtitles, at the Shoe Factory. This year, it includes some diverse as well as challenging films exhibiting the life, art and politics of Brazil from different angles.
First up is 2 Filhos de Francisco, based on the real rags-to-riches life story of the most commercially successful Brazilian singing duo of the last decade, Zezé di Camargo & Luciano.
On Friday Bruno Barreto’s Four Days in September docudrama cuts through the political history of Brazil. Examined through different perspectives, it retells the events of 1969, when the American ambassador to Brazil was kidnapped by youthful, idealistic Marxist guerrillas seeking to free their comrades from detention and torture by the dictatorship ruling the country.
Don’t miss Lucy Walker’s Oscar-nominated film Waste Land on Saturday. It follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of catadores or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials, and collaborates with these inspiring characters as they recycle their lives and society’s garbage.
Linha de Passe is ambitious attempt by Walter Salles and co-director Daniela Thomas to tell the tale of four brothers struggling for survival and self-esteem in the Sao Paulo slums, while their poor, but honest, mother prepares for the birth of a fifth child by yet another absentee father. The film studies how each young man is a victim of social injustice. The film is a follow-up to Foreign Land, which Salles and Thomas made 12 years ago, and like that film, Linha de Passe focuses on youth, movement and change.
The penultimate film in this line-up, Bus 174, is a shocking, hypnotic look at a real-life disaster. In the summer of 2000, Sandro de Nascimento, a 22 year-old street kid living in Rio de Janeiro, boarded a bus waving a gun and demanding everyone’s money. What should have been a fast grab-and-run quickly deteriorated into a hostage situation. The event was caught live on television. The extensive newsreel footage from this terrible event forms the bulk of Bus 174, but director Jose Padilha takes time to fill in the background, too: the poverty-broken world of the gunmen is detailed, and so is the political situation that led to the decision-making on the part of the authorities during the siege.
Ending on a more uplifting note, the final film to be screened, The Sound of Rio: Brasileirinho dives deep into the Brazilian music scene. It explores Choro, a musical style created more than a century ago. A reflection of Brazil’s diverse ethnic heritage, Choro mixes the sounds of Europe with music in the Brazilian Indian and African traditions. The documentary also features guitarist Yamandu Costa who appeared in Cyprus three years ago as part of Pharos’ Brazilian Culture Month.
8th Brazilian Film Festival
Screening that include some diverse as well as challenging films exhibiting the life, art and politics of Brazil from different angles. October 27–November 1. The Shoe Factory, 304 Ermou Street, Nicosia. 8.30pm. Free. Tel: 22-663871
