Festival do Rio Announces Complete Film Programming

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Following the announcement of the selections for Première Brasil, the competitive section for Brazilian cinema in the Festival do Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s International Film Festival, organizers recently revealed the complete programming schedule for the festival.

The Festival do Rio will return for its 17th edition beginning October 1st and will continue through October 14th. This year the festival will feature more than 250 films from sixty countries screening in twenty locations throughout the city.

The festival will open at Centro Cultural Luiz Severiano Ribeiro – Odeon on with a screening of the film “Chico: Artista Brasileiro, a documentary about popular Brazilian singer, guitarist, composer, writer and poet Chico Buarque directed by Miguel Faria Jr.

The more than 250 remaining films of the festival will be divided into sections including Première Brasil; Panorama: Grandes Mestres do Cinema (Panorama: Great Masters of Cinema); Panorama do Cinema Mundial (World Cinema Panorama); Expectativa 2015 (Anticipated in 2015); Première Latina (Première Latin); Midnight Docs; Midnight Docs Music; Fronteiras (Borders); Itinerários Únicos (Unique Itineraries); Documentary; Meio Ambiente (Environment); and Geração (Generation).

Notable films announced for this year’s Panorama: Grandes Mestres do Cinema section include Wim Wenders’ “Every Thing Will Be Fine”, Peter Bogdanovich’s “She’s Funny That Way”, Jerzy Skolimowski’s “11 Minutes”, Albert Maysles’ “In Transit”, and two films by Hong Sang-soo, “Right Now, Wrong Then” and “Hill of Freedom.”

The Panorama do Cinema Mundial section will feature over three dozen film including Roberto Minervini’s “The Other Side”, Thomas Vinterberg’s “Far from the Madding Crowd”, Catherine Hardwicke’s “Miss You Already”, Michel Gondry’s “Microbe and Gasoline”, and Hal Hartley’s “Ned Rifle.”

American director Hal Hartley will be a special guest of the festival this year. One of the major names in independent cinema during the 90s whose works are often compared and grouped with those of Aki Kaurismäki and Jim Jarmusch, Hartley will present film lessons during the festival centered around his films “Simple Men” from 1992, “Flirt” from 1995; and his most recent film, “Ned Rifle” from 2014.

Notable selections in the Midnight Movies, Midnight Docs and Midnight Docs Music sections include Jeremy Saulnier’s “Green Room”, F. Gary Gray’s smash hit “Straight Outta Compton,” an homage to the films of late director Wes Craven and a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Tizuka Yamasaki’s “Lua de Cristal” (Crystal Moon).

American actor, director, writer and producer Orson Welles will also be celebrated during the festival. Three documentaries, collected footage and rarities will be screened as well as the films “The Magnificent Ambersons”, “Chimas at Midnight” and “Othello.”

In addition to the film screenings the festival will include seminars, debates, and discussions with international directors and actors as well as the RioMarket, a section of the film festival, that features seminars and workshops for and about the film industry.

The headquarters of the RioMarket and additional Festival do Rio activities will move this year from the Armázem in the city’s Port Zone to the Colégio Brasileiro de Altos Estudos/UFRJ (Brazilian College of Advanced Studies, located in Flamengo.

For more information about the Festival do Rio and for a complete schedule of events, locations and times, see their official website.