By Jack Arnhold, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Four Brazilian films are participating in Cannes Film Festival this year, and two are included in the Palme d’Or competition.
“Bacurau,” directed by Kléber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, mixes science fiction with genres like western to tell a story set in Brazil’s northeastern sertão.
Mendonça Filho, who previously competed for the Palme d’Or in 2016 with his film Aquarius, spoke with Correio Braziliense about his new film, saying it is “a work of years” that results in his and his creative partner’s relationship with the movies, the people they love, Pernambuco, Brazil, and the world.
“O Traidor,” directed by Italian director Marco Bellocchio, follows an Italian mafioso who takes refuge in Brazil. With some of the scenes shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil takes a share of the production credits.
The two additional Brazilian films to be screened in the “Un Certain Regard” session will be “A Vida Invisível de Eurídice Gusmão,” directed by Karim Aïnouz, and “Port Authority,” by North American director Danielle Lessovitz and produced by Brazilian Rodrigo Teixeira.
Brazilian films have been competing at Cannes since 1949, with Marcel Camus’ “Orfeu do Carnaval” winning the Palme d’Or in 1959, followed by a second and so far last Palme d’Or for “O Pagador de Promessas,” directed by Anselmo Duarte in 1962.