International Documentary Film Festival Returns to Rio in April

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Beginning April 7th, the E Tudo Verdade – It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival will return to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Continuing simultaneously in both cities through April 17th, the 21st edition of the festival will feature 85 films, from 26 countries.

“It is a privilege to introduce such an exceptional selection, both Brazilian and international productions, including twenty-two world premieres,” founder and director of E Tudo Verdade Amir Labaki said of the 2016 edition in a press release. “It was a particularly difficult selection process due to the high quality and record number of entries, which surpassed 1700 titles in five continents.”

The documentary, “As Incríveis Artimanhas da Nuvem Cigana” (The Incredible Cunning of Cloud Cigana ) will open the festival in Rio de Janeiro while the Italian documentary “Fire at Sea” will open the festival in São Paulo. A highly-acclaimed film by director Gianfranco Rosi, “Fire at Sea” recently won a Golden Bear Award at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival held earlier this year in February.

The E Tudo Verdade festival also includes competitive sections. Seven national unreleased productions were selected to compete for the Brazilian Feature and Medium-Film Competition, and nine documentaries were selected to compete for the Short Film Competition. Twelve films will compete for the International Long and Medium Films Competition and nine films were selected for the International Short Films Competition.

Additionally during the 2016 edition, there will be special programming that includes a retrospective that celebrates work of Carlos Nade and special screenings honoring filmmakers Chantal Akerman, Ruy Guerra, Claude Lanzmann, and Haskell Wexler.

This year, in celebration of the upcoming Olympic Games, the festival will include a special selection of Olympic documentaries. “Instead of screening the great classics, which will also be shown on television, we thought it was better to try to show a different perspective of it,” said Labaki. “We selected five films, two of which are world premieres, that talk about the games and how the films portrayed the Olympics throughout the period. ”

For more information about the films and festival including screening times and locations, see the official É Tudo Verdade website.

What: É Tudo Verdade (It’s All True) Documentary Film Festival
When: April 7th – 17th, various screening times.
Where: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in various locations.
Entrance: Sessions are free.