Luiz Carlos Lacerda
Inspired by the US paper “Gay Sunshine”, in April of 1978 appeared in Brazil – during the dictatorship – the newspaper “O Lampião”, depicting the point of view of gays on various issues, including sexuality. A group of journalists and writers from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo joined the project, fueling a publication that paved the way for the press at the time, addressing controversial issues at the period, such as racism, abortion, drugs and prostitution.
In the 1970s, in the midst of a military dictatorship, composer Jards Macalé and filmmaker Luiz Carlos Lacerda (Bigode) shared a house in Rio de Janeiro - which became a center of convergence for musicians, filmmakers and writers, and where they performed classic films and songs of Brazilian culture.
Cinema in 7 Colors traces an historical panorama of how the queer people were portrayed in the Brazilian silver screens, from its origin in the chanchadas of the 1950s up to the present day. The film investigates the origins of the prejudices, stereotypes, as well as the importance of the identification with constructive representations of these characters.
Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 2007, Kléber Mendonça Filho recorded testimonies about this relationship in Brazil, the United States and Europe, based on his experience as a critic.
A light-hearted and high-spirited story, full of spice, sensuality and romance, Viva Zapato tells the tale of Dolores, a beautiful Cuban dancer who decides to leave her failing marriage and open a restaurant by the beach with her aunt from Brazil. When her aunt sends her a pair of shoes instead of the money to start up the restaurant, she angrily sells the useless gift for spare change. Her dream fades away - until she discovers that the money was hidden in the heel. The zany search for the shoes begins, as she follows the footsteps through the lively streets of Havana, running into the quirky, colorful characters that bring Viva Zapato and Dolores' dream.
Documentary about the work of photographer Alair Gomes, one of the first artists to introduce male nudity in Brazilian photography.
The movie shows the life of brazilian actress Leila Diniz, who dies in a plane crash.
A group of eccentric people gather at a popular bar in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro. Among its costumers, we find Ana, an actress, and her husband Zeca, a writer in crisis about his work.
In 1970, the Esquadrão da Morte (Death Squad)' crimes for the refinement of violence provoked a wave of reactions throughout the country. The photos of the victims, adorned by the skull, symbol of the group, caused an uncomfortable indignation. This is the story of Mateus Romeiro, the most famous of the policemen, who was part of the Homens de Aço (Steelmen) group, one of the factions in which the squadron was divided.
In a financially troubled farm in the 1930's, its depraved owners become attracted to their new handsome and young handyman.
70-year-old widower living in a poor Rio de Janeiro suburb falls in love again when he finds a woman of approximately the same age.
Tadeu, a poor lad from the Northeast of Brazil, comes to Rio de Janeiro to try his luck. His good looks and education win him the favor of rich people. In his spare time, he becomes the favorite among lonely and rich ladies. Soon he gets involved in trouble.
A documentary that presents home movies and several excerpts of known films of famous actress Leila Diniz. Friends of the late actress, tragic killed on a plane crash in 1972, discuss about her life, her work and her legacy in Brazilian culture.
Brazil, 1594. The Tupinambás natives are friends of the French and their enemies are the Tupiniquins, friends of the Portuguese. A Frenchman is captured by the Tupinambás, and in spite of his trial to convince them that he is French, they believe he is Portuguese. The Frenchman becomes their slave, and maritally lives with Seboipepe.
In a small town in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a woman rebels against local morality after her child dies, with tragic results.
In another literary adaptation – this time Machado de Assis’ novella O Alienista – and his first color film, dos Santos unleashes an extravagant, maddening excoriation of Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1970s. As usual, the director exploits all cinematic constituents in his palette – a radically intrusive and discordant soundtrack, non sequitur editing, exaggerated camera angles and all manner of carnivalesque pageantry – to illustrate the tale of a doctor/priest on a mission to discover truth through the study of madness. The population of his asylum grows as his definition of sanity fluctuates until it finally threatens to incorporate the entire town. The film’s own irrational reversals and allegorical codes gleefully mock the arbitrariness of authoritarianism in all its varied guises. -Harvard Film Archive
A shockingly irreverent follow-up to the rural austerity of Barren Lives, dos Santos’ Godardian social satire owes more than a nod to the self-conscious antics of the French New Wave. The pampered son of a general, El Justicero is a hipster playboy who fancies himself a James Bond/Jean Paul Sartre urban hero. “Archetypical” yet “full of contradictions,” he sees that justice is achieved for the disadvantaged while taking advantage of certain bourgeois perks. His exploits are closely followed and eventually directed by his biographer who decides a film is not only more lucrative than a book, but it gives him the luxury of reviewing previous scenes. Unlike Bond, El Jus eventually experiences an awakening which threatens to compromise the entertainment value and glamour of his life story. - Harvard Film Archive
