Downtown Rio hosts Latin American film screenings

An exhibition of Latin American films instigates dialogues on current issues in the cinema of the Centro Cultural Justiça Federal, in Cinelândia, downtown Rio de Janeiro. Until Sunday (13), the free project “Visões Latinas” (Latin Views) brings long and short films from various countries about racism, ancestry, violence, feminism, identity, loneliness and the LGBTQIAP+ population.

The second week of films starts this Thursday (10th), at 18:30, with the Brazilian short film “Manhã de Domingo”(Sunday Morning) and the Chilean feature “Uma Mulher Fantástica” (A Fantastic Woman). The next few days feature works from Brazil, Cuba, Colombia and Mexico, including an Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film (see schedule and synopses below).

Read also: Check out our coverage on Brazil

The opening, last Thursday (3), featured a tribute to the historian, screenwriter and professor of photography Mauricio Lissovsky, paid posthumous tribute to him, who died in August this year, and a presentation by the Maré Symphony Orchestra.

On Friday (4), the initiative actually started with the Brazilian short “Mente Aberta” (Open Mind) and the Argentine feature “Relatos Selvagens” (Wild Reports). On Saturday, it was the turn of films only Brazilian films, with the short “Nicinha não vem” (Nicinha is not coming) and the feature “A pessoa é para o que nasce” (A person is for what it is born for), by Mauricio Lissovsky.

SECOND WEEK SCHEDULE OF FILMS

Thursday (10), at 6:30 pm

• Sunday morning (Brazil)

The short film brings the drama of a young pianist who has lost her mother and tries to reconcile with her memories on the eve of a recital.

• A Fantastic Woman (Chile)

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2018, the feature tells the story of Marina, a transgender woman who left her family to live with a man 20 years older than her and, after his death, has to deal with the prejudice of the partner’s family.

Friday (11) at 6:30 pm

• Joãosinho da Goméa, the King of Candomblé (Brazil)

Joãosinho da Goméa is the narrator of his own story in the short film, which takes up songs and performances performed by the religious leader and his importance for the religions of African origins in Brazil.

• Last Days in Havana (Cuba)

The feature film is set in the Cuban capital today, in which the character tries to get a visa to the United States while washing dishes in a diner. He cares for a friend who is completely opposite to him and has contracted HIV.

Saturday (12), at 16:00

• Slope is not a ramp  (Brazil)

The short film follows a skateboarder who dreams of releasing a film in an unlikely city: no movie theaters or skate parks.

• The Serpent’s Embrace (Colombia)

The feature film brings Karamakate, the last survivor of an indigenous people, previously seen as a powerful shaman, who lived isolated in the Amazon Rainforest until an American ethnobotanist came to meet him.

Sunday (13), at 4 pm

• Cascudos (Brazil)

The short film shows the steps of a boy about to break the record for a game in an arcade, when “a trio of children from the neighborhood arrive, and the game turns serious”.

• Party in Heaven (Mexico)

The only animation of the show, the Pixar film shows Manolo’s doubt between following his family’s expectations or his heart, when experiencing “three fantastic worlds.”

With information from g1