Sérgio Ricardo

Acting

Sérgio Ricardo

Born 1932-06-18 · Marília, São Paulo, Brazil

João Lutfi (18 June 1932 – 23 July 2020), known professionally as Sérgio Ricardo, was a Brazilian actor, musician, playwright and filmmaker, better known for being responsible for the soundtrack of Glauber Rocha's "Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol" ("Black God, White Devil"). Born in a Lebanese-Brazilian family in Marília, São Paulo, and brother to famed director of photography Dib Lutfi, João got his stage name from TV businessmen who wanted to rebrand him as a leading man with an iconic name during his early gigs as an actor. He's maily associated with the Cinema Novo (Brazilian New Wave) movement, but stayed active until 2018. During the Cinema Novo days, Ricardo directed short film "Menino da Calça Branca" (1961) and "Esse Mundo É Meu" (1963), his feature-length debut. Among other notorious works in his career as a filmmaker is "A Noite do Espantalho", which shows Ricardo's talent as a polymath by mixing filmmaking with folk music and other elements of Brazilian popular culture, such as "cordel" literature. Ricardo moved to the Vidigal slum, in Rio de Janeiro, by choice in the 1970s, where he lived until his death in 2020. "Bandeira de Retalhos" (2018), his last film, was adapted by a theatre play also written by him and chronicles the life in 1970s Vidigal.

Acting credits

Pé Sem Chão poster
5.0

Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro. A woman is left desperate and hopeless after she is evicted from her house with her disabled son.

Pé Sem Chão

2014

Calabouço 1968 - Um tiro no coração do Brasil poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Calabouço 1968 - Um tiro no coração do Brasil

2014

Enquanto a Tristeza não Vem poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Enquanto a Tristeza não Vem

2003

Descobrindo Waltel poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Descobrindo Waltel

2005

Zelão poster
NR

Sérgio Ricardo's only animation film, a short made as a companion piece to his song "Zelão".

Zelão

1999

Two Rabbits poster
6.9

Edgar is a young upper-middle class man, close to completing 30 years old, he lives a full life crisis and is in a position common to the vast majority of Brazilians. On the one hand the power, represented by a corrupt state, abusive and absent in their taxes before their obligations. On the other, crime increasingly organized violence became a constant in the lives of citizens in large cities. Edgar responds to all this as a modern vigilante. With the help of ingredients such as technology, counter-information and manipulation, Edgar concocts a brilliant plan, using the greed of their opponents as the reason for its destruction. As the plot unfolds, we know more about the dark past of each character as Edgar fit the pieces together in an intriguing puzzle that makes up the film's plot.

Two Rabbits

2012

Depois do Transe poster
2.0

The documentary "Depois do Transe" covers the entire process of creating the masterpiece "Entranced Earth", which was released and awarded at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967. "Entranced Earth" charmed the world and won great admirers such as filmmaker Martin Scorsese and the writer Marguerite Duras, who at the time considered a "fabulous filmic opera."

Depois do Transe

2006

Bandeira de Retalhos poster
NR

Vidigal Hill, 1977. A runaway group of bandits engage in a complex love triangle in the brink of the news that the corrupt Rio de Janeiro mayor decided to make everyone move out of Vidigal, aided by police forces.

Bandeira de Retalhos

2018

Coisa Mais Linda - Histórias e Casos da Bossa Nova poster
7.3

Documentary about the birth of bossa-nova, in Brazil, and the major stars of this musical style.

Coisa Mais Linda - Histórias e Casos da Bossa Nova

2005

Na Rota do Vento poster
NR

It is a realistic musical documentary, mixing the old and the new, exchanging chronological positions, creating a suggestive carousel for the audience. A tribute to Sérgio Ricardo's cinematographic work narrated through the assembly of scenes and tracks taken from the 7 films he directed. In this anthology, the most recurrent theme in the author's work is portrayed: the struggle of the oppressed worker who finds love, music and the community his escape valve.

Na Rota do Vento

2019

Pitanga poster
5.6

This documentary investigates the aesthetic, political and existential trajectory of emblematic Black Brazilian actor Antônio Pitanga. His career spans over five decades, and he has worked with iconic Brazilian filmmakers Glauber Rocha, Cacá Diegues and Walter Lima Jr. He was a prominent figurehead and outspoken activist during the Brazilian dictatorship, a period of unrest in Brazilian cinema. "Pitanga" deep dives into the world of Antônio and the history of Brazil. The documentary was directed by his daughter Camila Pitanga, one of widely recognised faces in Brazilian television and cinema right now. The film is also a poem, and a tender ode to fatherhood.

Pitanga

2016

Milagrez poster
NR

Documentary on "Antonio das Mortes", Glauber Rocha's 1969 film.

Milagrez

2008

Pluft, o Fantasminha poster
8.0

It tells the story of a girl being abducted by the evil pirate with a wooden leg.

Pluft, o Fantasminha

1962

Para Viver Um Grande Amor poster
6.2

Poor people who live in the slums in Rio de Janeiro decide to occupy an empty apartment building in the rich part of the city. Meanwhile, a rich girl falls in love with a poor composer. Based on the musical play "Pobre Menina Rica", by Vinícius de Moraes and Carlos Lyra.

Para Viver Um Grande Amor

1984

Un animal doué de déraison poster
6.5

A wealthy French promoter living in Rio tries to seduce Alexandra, a young woman of high society, but a prisoner of her strict education. He then shared his project with a journalist friend, who decided to make it the theme of a novel he imagined in 18th century Brazil...

Un animal doué de déraison

1976

A Night in 67 poster
6.8

In the 1970s, "festivals" were incredibly popular in Brazil, as they were recorded before a live studio audience, and usually featured a number of elimination rounds. They also formed the springboard for the career of many a big-name stars, such as Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Roberto Carlos and Gilberto Gil. Appearing on such a program was no cakewalk, however: audiences could be as wild in their condemnation as in their appreciation of an artist. Extensive archive footage (including performances and behind-the-scenes interviews) from the turbulent final evening of the Festival of Brazilian Popular Music 1967 paints a fascinating picture, not only of the transformation of Brazilian music into real "festival" music, but also of a society starting to buck against the yoke of military rule.

A Night in 67

2010

Dib poster
8.0

Documentary that addresses, through the testimony of directors and actors, the work of Dib Lutfi, considered one of the greatest photographers of Brazilian cinema.

Dib

1997

Sérgio Ricardo: Uma Outra História do Cinema Novo poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Sérgio Ricardo: Uma Outra História do Cinema Novo

2024

Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth poster
6.3

Documentary about Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha, one of the most important names in the Cinema Novo, with interviews with some of his friends and colleagues.

Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth

2003

Esse Mundo é Meu poster
7.6

The film follows two men living in a Rio de Janeiro slum: a black shoe-shiner and a white mill worker.

Esse Mundo é Meu

1964

O Tempo e o Som poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

O Tempo e o Som

1970

Sérgio Ricardo AKA João Lutfi poster
NR

The composer, singer, musician, painter and filmmaker João Lutfi, known as Sérgio Ricardo, narrates his journey from the beginning as a pianist for TV Tupi, through his experience as an actor on TV, as a bossa nova artist until he found his very own and characteristic style as a filmmaker and composer.

Sérgio Ricardo AKA João Lutfi

2020

Favela do Papa poster
NR

The film shows the resistance movement of the residents of Favela do Vidigal against the removal order, an important chapter in the history of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s.

Favela do Papa

2023

No artwork available
6.9

When a young boy from a shanty town near Rio de Janeiro gets a coveted pair of white trousers for Christmas his joy knows no bounds. Not getting them dirty, however, presents certain difficulties for a lively slum kid.

Menino da Calça Branca

1962

Behind the camera

Pé Sem Chão poster
5.0

Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro. A woman is left desperate and hopeless after she is evicted from her house with her disabled son.

Pé Sem Chão

2014

Pé Sem Chão poster
5.0

Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro. A woman is left desperate and hopeless after she is evicted from her house with her disabled son.

Pé Sem Chão

2014

Zelão poster
NR

Sérgio Ricardo's only animation film, a short made as a companion piece to his song "Zelão".

Zelão

1999

Zelão poster
NR

Sérgio Ricardo's only animation film, a short made as a companion piece to his song "Zelão".

Zelão

1999

Lost Love Juliana poster
7.0

A beautiful young woman living in an isolated fishing community on an island falls in love with an outsider, a train machinist. But her father, a violent religious fanatic interferes.

Lost Love Juliana

1970

Lost Love Juliana poster
7.0

A beautiful young woman living in an isolated fishing community on an island falls in love with an outsider, a train machinist. But her father, a violent religious fanatic interferes.

Lost Love Juliana

1970

The Night of the Scarecrow poster
6.5

In the miserable Northeastern Brazil, a ruthless land Baron wants to throw a poor farming community out of their land.

The Night of the Scarecrow

1974

The Night of the Scarecrow poster
6.5

In the miserable Northeastern Brazil, a ruthless land Baron wants to throw a poor farming community out of their land.

The Night of the Scarecrow

1974

Bandeira de Retalhos poster
NR

Vidigal Hill, 1977. A runaway group of bandits engage in a complex love triangle in the brink of the news that the corrupt Rio de Janeiro mayor decided to make everyone move out of Vidigal, aided by police forces.

Bandeira de Retalhos

2018

Bandeira de Retalhos poster
NR

Vidigal Hill, 1977. A runaway group of bandits engage in a complex love triangle in the brink of the news that the corrupt Rio de Janeiro mayor decided to make everyone move out of Vidigal, aided by police forces.

Bandeira de Retalhos

2018

Esse Mundo é Meu poster
7.6

The film follows two men living in a Rio de Janeiro slum: a black shoe-shiner and a white mill worker.

Esse Mundo é Meu

1964

Esse Mundo é Meu poster
7.6

The film follows two men living in a Rio de Janeiro slum: a black shoe-shiner and a white mill worker.

Esse Mundo é Meu

1964

Esse Mundo é Meu poster
7.6

The film follows two men living in a Rio de Janeiro slum: a black shoe-shiner and a white mill worker.

Esse Mundo é Meu

1964

No artwork available
6.9

When a young boy from a shanty town near Rio de Janeiro gets a coveted pair of white trousers for Christmas his joy knows no bounds. Not getting them dirty, however, presents certain difficulties for a lively slum kid.

Menino da Calça Branca

1962

No artwork available
6.9

When a young boy from a shanty town near Rio de Janeiro gets a coveted pair of white trousers for Christmas his joy knows no bounds. Not getting them dirty, however, presents certain difficulties for a lively slum kid.

Menino da Calça Branca

1962