Brazilian Feature Film on Post-Slavery Epoch Selected for Berlinale Festival

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The film “Todos os Mortos”, by Caetano Gotardo and Marco Dutra, was selected for the competitive exhibition of the Berlinale Festival in Berlin, Germany, according to a note released by the organization on Wednesday morning, January 29th.

This is the first time that the filmmakers, former classmates at USP (University of São Paulo) and part of the collective ‘Filmes de Caixote’, share the command of a feature film – although Dutra is known as one of the exponents of the new generation of national terror films, with “Good Manners” and “Hard Labor” under his belt, while Gotardo was distinguished for his intimate productions, particularly his debut feature film, “The Moving Creatures”.

The period drama they now release portrays three women at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. Held hostage to the memories of the family farm and the slaves who worked there, they cannot keep up with the euphoria of modernization that affected São Paulo during the period.

Another 18 national productions are also part of the festival’s program this year.

Five of these are in Panorama, the second most important exhibition of the event. These are “Dry Wind”, by Daniel Nolasco; “Shine Your Eyes”, by Matias Mariani; the documentary “Amazon Mirror”, by Fernando Segtowick, from Pará; and the co-production between Brazil, Argentina and Switzerland, “Un Crimen Común”, by Francisco Márquez, from Argentina.

Karim Aïnouz, from Ceará, completes the Panorama list. Following on “The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão,” which won the Un Certain Regard show in Cannes last year, he now introduces “Nardjes A.,” in which he follows a young Algerian militant with a cell phone – Aïnouz’s father was born in that country.

The Brazilian presence extends to other parallel shows in Berlin.

Gustavo Vinagre and Paula Gaitán will be in the Forum program with “Divinely Evil” and “Light in the Tropics”, respectively. The Generation program, which maps films on youth, will include “My Name Is Baghdad” by Caru Alves de Souza, “Alice Júnior” by Gil Baroni, “Irmã” by Luciana Mazeto and Vinícius Lopes, and the short film “Rã” by Ana Flavia Cavalcanti and Julia Zakia.

Six more Brazilians (Jonathas de Andrade, Ana Vaz, Aline Motta, Patricia Ferreira Pará Yxapy, Grace Passô, and Ricardo Alves Jr.) will have their works screened at the Forum Expanded exhibition, dedicated to experimental language films and art videos.

Brazil screened 12 films in last year’s edition of the Berlinale. One of them was “Marighella“, which premiered under applause at the event. Directed by Wagner Moura and with Seu Jorge in the role of the guerrilla fighter, the feature film has not yet made it to Brazil’s domestic circuit but is scheduled to premiere on May 14th.

Source: Folhapress