Leon Hirszman

Didactic documentary on the History of Brazil

Otavio is an idealistic union leader trying to organize workers at a factory to resist the company's exploitative practices. His son, Tião, one of the employees, is more of a realist and doesn't want to risk losing his job by striking. This clash of perspectives puts the father and son at odds. Fortunately, Tião's mother, Romana, is on hand to act as a moderator between the two opinionated men.

ABC of a Strike captures the 1979 metal workers strikes outside of São Paulo. The footage sat untouched until after the death of highly-regarded director Leon Hirszman in 1987, by which time the material had a new relevance. The gripping film captures the negotiations between the labor unions and the factory bosses and shows the birth of the region’s Worker’s Party, as well as the emergence of its charismatic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Rising from extreme poverty, Lula gained national prominence as a union activist during the late 70s and early 80s. After being jailed during his time as a union leader, he eventually becomes Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010.

Chronicles the life of a 17 year-old girl living in the upper-class Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Ipanema. Márcia lives a life of parties and spend her days among bohemians, musicians and intellectuals. While seeming happy in the outside, she's extremely anguished inside. Based on the famous song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

Develops from the life, work and memory of Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, one of the most important names in the history of Brazilian theater, to examine the courses of dramaturgy and politics in the last decades. Guarnieri, besides being a TV star, was also seen as the synthesis of the politically engaged artist in Brazil. His sons, also actors, saw a separation between art, work, and politics. As he investigates the portraits of two generations, grandson and director Francisco aims to understand the place of his own generation in history, in art and the world as a whole.

Follows the story of Opinião, a theatre group created in 1964 during the early Brazilian dictatorship period to oppose the government through artistic performances. Considered the first left-wing response to the dictatorship, the group gathered now famous Brazilian artists such as Nara Leão, Maria Bethânia, João do Vale and Millôr Fernandes.

Didactic documentary on the History of Brazil

Otavio is an idealistic union leader trying to organize workers at a factory to resist the company's exploitative practices. His son, Tião, one of the employees, is more of a realist and doesn't want to risk losing his job by striking. This clash of perspectives puts the father and son at odds. Fortunately, Tião's mother, Romana, is on hand to act as a moderator between the two opinionated men.

Otavio is an idealistic union leader trying to organize workers at a factory to resist the company's exploitative practices. His son, Tião, one of the employees, is more of a realist and doesn't want to risk losing his job by striking. This clash of perspectives puts the father and son at odds. Fortunately, Tião's mother, Romana, is on hand to act as a moderator between the two opinionated men.

ABC of a Strike captures the 1979 metal workers strikes outside of São Paulo. The footage sat untouched until after the death of highly-regarded director Leon Hirszman in 1987, by which time the material had a new relevance. The gripping film captures the negotiations between the labor unions and the factory bosses and shows the birth of the region’s Worker’s Party, as well as the emergence of its charismatic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Rising from extreme poverty, Lula gained national prominence as a union activist during the late 70s and early 80s. After being jailed during his time as a union leader, he eventually becomes Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010.

Chronicles the life of a 17 year-old girl living in the upper-class Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Ipanema. Márcia lives a life of parties and spend her days among bohemians, musicians and intellectuals. While seeming happy in the outside, she's extremely anguished inside. Based on the famous song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

Chronicles the life of a 17 year-old girl living in the upper-class Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Ipanema. Márcia lives a life of parties and spend her days among bohemians, musicians and intellectuals. While seeming happy in the outside, she's extremely anguished inside. Based on the famous song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

Chronicles the life of a 17 year-old girl living in the upper-class Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Ipanema. Márcia lives a life of parties and spend her days among bohemians, musicians and intellectuals. While seeming happy in the outside, she's extremely anguished inside. Based on the famous song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

Between August 23 and 31, 1983, at the "Circo Massimo", in Rome, there was a musical event that brought together artists from Bahia. This film brings a recording of the event, also featuring backstage, rehearsals, testimonies and some relaxing moments of these great names in Bahia's music.

Five segments about the hardships faced by people living in slums on hills in Rio de Janeiro.

Five segments about the hardships faced by people living in slums on hills in Rio de Janeiro.

Five segments about the hardships faced by people living in slums on hills in Rio de Janeiro.

Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.

Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.

Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.

In hopes of unraveling the causes and cure for various forms of insanity, a psychiatrist in Brazil created the Museum of Images from the Unconscious in 1952. It gathered paintings and drawings made by mental patients from all over Brazil. Many of the works in the museum are paired with the case-histories of the patients who created them in this fascinating film.

In hopes of unraveling the causes and cure for various forms of insanity, a psychiatrist in Brazil created the Museum of Images from the Unconscious in 1952. It gathered paintings and drawings made by mental patients from all over Brazil. Many of the works in the museum are paired with the case-histories of the patients who created them in this fascinating film.

Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.

After visiting a fortune teller, Zulmira is informed that a blonde woman will threaten her peace. After talking to her husband Toninho, she suspects that her cousin Glorinha may be that blonde.

After visiting a fortune teller, Zulmira is informed that a blonde woman will threaten her peace. After talking to her husband Toninho, she suspects that her cousin Glorinha may be that blonde.

The story of Paulo Honório, a poor ploughman who becomes a rich farmer. Obsessed by his desire to get even richer, he doesn't pay much attention to his wife, Madalena, a teacher who reacts against his tyrannical ways.

The story of Paulo Honório, a poor ploughman who becomes a rich farmer. Obsessed by his desire to get even richer, he doesn't pay much attention to his wife, Madalena, a teacher who reacts against his tyrannical ways.

Documentary about the history of Jornal do Brasil, founded on April 14, 1891. In 1965, the Jornal do Brasil marked its innovative and active position, as recorded in the documentary "A Seventv-Four- Year-Old Fellow" by the filmmaker Nelson Pereira dos Santos, and the story itself was in charge of confirming. In the following years, the newspaper would witness the most remarkable events of the second half of the twentieth century in Brazil and in the world. It would applaud the democratic struggles and independence of peoples, support social demonstrations against oppression and justice at all levels. Tirelessly, he did not hesitate to report the truth of the facts, regardless of the circumstances in which they presented themselves.

A documentary short on the 1978 Carnaval celebration in Rio de Janeiro, covering many aspects of the celebration's popular culture.

No synopsis available yet.

Adelina Gomes, a poor girl, daughter of peasants, with a primary education and some manual training, shy and submissive to her mother, had never had a boyfriend until she was 18 years old, when she fell in love with a man who was not accepted by her mother. He submitted himself to the fact and gradually withdrew until one day he strangled the cat, which he liked very much. By killing the cat, Adelina denied herself as a woman, taking refuge in madness with great aggression.

Adelina Gomes, a poor girl, daughter of peasants, with a primary education and some manual training, shy and submissive to her mother, had never had a boyfriend until she was 18 years old, when she fell in love with a man who was not accepted by her mother. He submitted himself to the fact and gradually withdrew until one day he strangled the cat, which he liked very much. By killing the cat, Adelina denied herself as a woman, taking refuge in madness with great aggression.

Dialoguing directly with the trilogy of documentaries “Images of the Unconscious”, made between 1983 and 1986 and based on clinical cases and therapies with a humanist approach and artistic expression, conducted by the pioneering psychiatrist Nise da Silveira (1905-1999) – screenwriter of that film –, here is presented, in two parts, an interview with the doctor, a student of Carl Jung and a pioneer in the application of non-violent treatments for psychiatric patients, given to director Leon Hirszman, in 1986. The conversation is divided in two parts: the first, "The emotion of dealing", the second, "The egress".

The documentary depicts the everyday of illiterate rural workers in Northeast Brazil, living under extreme misery. Although incapable of writing, they are aware of their condition and qualified to proposing solutions they hope for to their problems.

The documentary depicts the everyday of illiterate rural workers in Northeast Brazil, living under extreme misery. Although incapable of writing, they are aware of their condition and qualified to proposing solutions they hope for to their problems.

The episode dives into the mystical universe of Carlos Pertius, the son of a family of French immigrants, hospitalized at the age of 29. After facing personal problems such as the death of his father, one day he caught a glimpse of a cosmic image, which he named “the planetarium of God”. He was incarcerated at Praia Vermelha hospital, in Rio de Janeiro, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1946, he began to attend the studio created by Nise da Silveira, becoming fond of it as if it were his home. His works are marked by the presence of mandalas, signs of his attempts to organize psychic chaos.

The episode dives into the mystical universe of Carlos Pertius, the son of a family of French immigrants, hospitalized at the age of 29. After facing personal problems such as the death of his father, one day he caught a glimpse of a cosmic image, which he named “the planetarium of God”. He was incarcerated at Praia Vermelha hospital, in Rio de Janeiro, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1946, he began to attend the studio created by Nise da Silveira, becoming fond of it as if it were his home. His works are marked by the presence of mandalas, signs of his attempts to organize psychic chaos.

Part 1 of the "Images of the Unconscious" documental series.

An analysis of the phenomenon of accelerated urbanization in Brazil, and more particularly in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

No synopsis available yet.

Film in four segments: "Colagem", "Balanço", "Bandeira Zero" and "Sexta-Feira da Paixão, Sábado de Aleluia", having in common a strongly allegorical and gross protest tone in the approach of its subjects.

Documentary by Leon Hirszman about the economic conditions of film production in Brazil, produced in 1975 with sponsorship from Embrafilme and kept unreleased since then.

Documentary by Leon Hirszman about the economic conditions of film production in Brazil, produced in 1975 with sponsorship from Embrafilme and kept unreleased since then.

A short film of lovely poetic, observational elements and interviews with the famed samba singer/songwriter Nelson Antônio da Silva, whose adopted last name ‘Cavaquinho’ refers to the small guitar-like instrument that he played and used to compose his songs.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.