Austregésilo de Athayde

The fading of composer Zé Keti’s career. The sad portrait of Brazilian Congress closed in 1977. The pain of a mother who lost her 15-year old daughter run over by a car. The Brazilian Presidents since Castelo Branco. Characters and settings registered through the keen and sensitive perspective of photographer Orlando Brito, in a career spanning 50 years as a professional. From the political sidelines to the lives of Brazilians from the interior, Brito recalls experiences and discusses the role of the photographer and the pain of registering someone’s grief.

The film chronicles both the life and work of Brazilian author and engineer Euclides da Cunha and a failed attempt at directing his biopic in the 1980s and 1990s. Footage from the unfinished film is included alongside archive and documentary material.

Silent amateur film shot on 9,5mm, circa 1935. Digitized and restored by LUPA-UFF.