Grande Otelo

In 1965, a year after the military coup in Brazil, an oasis of freedom opened in the country's capital. The Brasília Film Festival: a landmark of cultural and political resistance. Its story is that of Brazilian cinema itself.

No synopsis available yet.

The raft man Manuel Jacaré was swallowed by the sea when Orson Welles was filming It's All True in 1942. The fact evokes memories of the dictatorship of the Estado Novo, of World War II, of Ceará fishermen's struggle for labor rights and housing in their traditional space - target of real estate speculation.

A beautifully told story using archival footage to explore the life of Grande Otelo, a groundbreaking Black Brazilian actor. Overcoming poverty and racism, he built a stellar career, facing controversy yet using it to challenge prejudice.

Searching for Makunaima is a cultural and historical account of the most Brazilian character there is in fiction. The film begins with Makunaima, one of the founding myths of the native people from the border between Brazil-Venezuela-Guiana, first captured in the writings of the German ethnographer Koch-Grünberg at the beginning of the 1910s. With interviews in Portuguese, German, Spanish, and in the indigenous languages Macuxi and Taurepang, Searching for Macunaima reclaims this amazing character who represents Brazil in many ways (from literature to cinema to theatre) and remains relevant to date.

For six decades, the cinema of Nelson Pereira dos Santos has projected Brazil into the eyes of the world. Precursor of Cinema Novo, Nelson was, more than a director, he was an ideologue, a thinker of his country.

For this behemoth, Bressane took his opera omnia and edited it in an order that first adheres to historical chronology but soon starts to move backwards and forward. The various pasts – the 60s, the 80s, the 2000s – comment on each other in a way that sheds light on Bressane’s themes and obsessions, which become increasingly apparent and finally, a whole idea of cinema reveals itself to the curious and patient viewer. Will Bressane, from now on, rework The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus when he makes another film? Is this his latest beginning? Why not, for the eternally young master maverick seems to embark on a maiden voyage with each and every new film!

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.

The life of a famous Brazilian film and television actor, including testimonials from people who knew him and worked with him, as well as excerpts from films and videos in which he acted.

Carlos Sebastião Prata Filho watches, for the first time, an interview given in 1963 by his father: Grande Othello. Alongside his four children, Grande Othello talks about his first experience in theater. Roquete Pinto, the interviewer, then starts asking the boys questions and records unexpected moments.

"Portraits and excerpts from Brazilian films from all times. Actors, directors and images that affirm cinema."

A documentary about Orson Welles's unfinished three-part film about South America.

Orson Welles acted in Brazilian culture and music by deeply researching Brazil's historical geology, consciously completing a legendary cultural mission. Although being turned down by Hollywood producers, he developed a triumphantly accomplished mission in the language domain - three friends of Welles' testified his love for cinema, his passion for Brazilian music and people and his obstinate endurance against formidable pressures coming from inside and outside Hollywood regarding his unfinished "It's All True".

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest.

A rock singer goes to Brazil to shoot a video, but winds up getting kidnapped and enduring a number of seemingly bizarre and hilarious events.

Account an important part of the history of Brazil, through its main character, Anayde Beiriz a poet, journalist and revolutionary and libertarian teacher of the early twentieth century, known for its sexual liberalism, which shocked the pre-Revolution in the state of Paraíba during 1930. His love for João Dantas eventually forge João Pessoa's death, at that time, governor of of Paraíba. These events served as a trigger for the a revolution.

Fantasy comedy about Brazilian writer Oswald de Andrade, one of the most important icons of Modernism in Brazil. In the film, Oswald is played by two actors: Ítala Nandi, as his feminine anima, and Flávio Galvão, as the masculine half.

A documentary on the influence that carnival has on the daily life of the Mangueira hill in Rio de Janeiro. It follows the manufacture of the carnivals of 1981 and 1982, interviewing several residents who tell the story of more than half a century of the favela's existence and emphasizing its community importance and cultural, to the sound of the most beautiful sambas composed on Mangueira.

Quilombo dos Palmares was a real-life democratic society, created in Brazil in the 17th century. This incredibly elaborate (and surprisingly little-known) film traces the origins of Quilombo, which began as a community of freed slaves. The colony becomes a safe harbor for other outcasts of the world, including Indians and Jews. Ganga Zumba (Toni Tornado) becomes president of Quilombo, the first freely elected leader in the Western Hemisphere. Naturally, the ruling Portuguese want to subjugate Zumba and his followers, but the Quilombians are ready for their would-be oppressors. The end of this Brave New World is not pleasant, but the followers of Zumba and his ideals take to the hills, where they honor his memory to this day. Writer/director Carlos Diegues takes every available opportunity to compare the rise and fall of Quilombo with the state of affairs in modern-day Brazil.

Story of a modest but talented soccer player for an obscure club in a small Brazilian town who comes to São Paulo and reaches stardom.

Rich girl travels with her fiancé (a cousin) to the family farm, where they're going to marry. But finds another cousin in love with her who does everything to hamper the wedding.

Five friends decide to enjoy Mardi Gras without their wives, leaving them home. But one of the wives doesn't accept this arrangement and tries to get even.

Bums find $15,000 in trash, but the money belonged to criminals.

Cropped hair, a rosemary branch behind the ear, yellow shirt of shiny satin, he's behind the wheel of his car when passing by a woman who walks by the roadside. Strongly painted lips, printed dress with round skirt and red shoes matching the color of the lipstick, she catches his attention. He gives her a ride, the two of them stare in silence for a few moments. They introduce themselves to one another and between the two establishes an absurd dialogue and full of metaphors. And they are driving around in corners of Rio de Janeiro, to the sound of Noel Rosa and Lamartine Babo. Eva and Antena, she a seer, he, an assassin on the run, initiate an unusual case of love, a marginal love, where boredom often gives way to tragedy, creating the agony of a holiday spent in an abyss.

The son of a millionaire who owns gold mines in Transopia, Africa, Antoine Leblanc, who lives in a mansion in Rio, one day receives a letter from his father asking him for help against the gold smugglers from Transopia to Brazil.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

A dysfunctional family, composed of a prostitute and two gay men, one strong and the other fragile and stupid, lives a routine life in Rio de Janeiro. When the slut threatens the other two to stop supporting them, they decide to find an odalisque as an alternative to keep their easy life.

After assaulting a Hollywood film crew, a group of residents of a community in Rio de Janeiro decided to produce a film that would express the reality of Brazil - with the theme of Inconfidência Mineira.

Dino and Dalmo are twin brothers. Dino is very shy, and the other, the opposite: a true Don Juan. When Dalmo dies, after being shot by a furious husband, he is received in heaven by a Club of Don Juans. But, in order to be admitted, he must go back to Earth, incarnated in his brother's body, and correct three mistakes he had made in his previous life.

Jorge, an ambitious journalist, marries into money and betrays colleagues to become a powerful politician during political turmoil in 1946 Brazil.

Story of Brazilian bank-robber Lúcio Flávio, who fascinated some people in Rio de Janeiro during the 1970s for his bold robberies and spectacular escapes, and also because he was thought to be intelligent and "politically aware". Before dying, he disclosed a network of corruption in Brazilian Police, and its involvement with the infamous "Death Squad" of the time, a group of policemen who went about killing criminals without giving them a fair trial.

A tireless and incorrigible seducer looks for - and seems to find - the woman of his life.

When Daniela, a famous actress, decides to return to her hometown to reconnect with a simpler lifestyle, local politicians decide to exploit her influence in order to get ambiguous deeds done.

No synopsis available yet.

Born a fully grown black man in a village in the Brazilian jungle, Macunaíma later magically transforms into a white man before making an adventure-filled trip to the city of São Paulo. Once there, he becomes something of a dandy, falling in love with Ci, a revolutionary who dies in an accidental bombing. After robbing a ruthless industrialist, Macunaima returns to his village where he finds his newly acquired knowledge and possessions of little use.

Based on true events in Rio de Janeiro, in 1960, when a gang having the infamous outlaw Tião Medonho as a leader performed a sensational railroad hold-up on a train carrying a small fortune.

A group of scoundrels want to make it by planning hoaxes.

Three friends meeting after the absence of one of them for 15 years out of the country. This sudden gathering give them the opportunity to examine their life, to criticize one another on their achievements.

A vivacious woman tries to please all of her lovers but finds she can't handle the jealousy that erupts among them.

Young man participates in TV contests to help the girl he loves using the money he expects to win.

A soap opera idol, lonely despite his fame and wealth, seeks a woman for companionship. He becomes interested in Míriam, a mysterious character who causes him countless setbacks. He's inclined to marry Carolina, his 19-year-old neighbor, who spends her time playing waltzes on the piano. However, all of Míriam's adventures will pale in comparison to the discoveries he will make in intimacy with Carolina, the sweet woman he loves.

A cleaner accidentely stills a secret formula and get mistaken for the heir prince of an old kingdom.

Tonico and Tião are two vaudevillian artists who travel across Brazil in search of fame and success. A crisis hits the duo when Tião gets tired of being a setup for Tonico's jokes in their numbers and leaves the troupe.

A small town is invaded by bandits who kidnap a rich man's daughter and other young girls. A group of rescuers is assembled, but three of the town's most fearful residents decide to transform into the funniest three musketeers in cinematic history.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

In a workshop there are six workers, the six are brothers. Enter the mother who asks them to rescue the seventh brother, the youngest, Luis. The brothers hesitate because the youngster keeps getting into trouble, but they end up giving in to the request. Gangsters are fighting in a bar and the workers end up getting into the fray.

The love misadventures of a teacher, a woman who gives up living in a big city in order to teach country children how to read and write.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

Renato and Miro are black brothers raised by a white family in an old mansion in Rio de Janeiro. Renato, a graduated lawyer, has always looked for dignity, winning in life due to his honesty and search for social recognition. His brother, on the contrary, is a rebel small time crook who believes his behavior is the product of the treatment he received while being rased by the whites.

No synopsis available yet.

A hard working man goes to São Paulo to look for his twin brother unaware that he's famous for his lazyness.

Roberto is blind and tunes pianos, isolated from the world and hurt by having abandoned his promising career as a pianist due to the accident that took his sight. One day, Roberto meets Suzana, the great love of his life, and his old passion returns with full force. But there's a problem: Suzana's engagement could put everything to ruin, separating the passionate couple once again.

A Brazilian musical comedy

João Ninguém is a humble composer who made the waltz "Sonhos Azuis" as a gift to his girlfriend on her birthday. To give it to her, he asked for help from a friend, but on the way, an accident happens and puts at risk not only the relationship, but also João's life and career.

No synopsis available yet.