Launch: Brazil Film Series @ Media Commons Theatre

This week  will be launched Brazil Film Series, a continuous showcase of Brazilian films at the University of Toronto. This partnership between Consulate General of Brazil in Toronto, the Rio Film Commission (RFC), the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Toronto and the University of Toronto Libraries has the goal to promote the Brazilian culture and to acknowledge the Portuguese language in line with the directives of the Cultural Department of the Ministry of the External Relations of Brazil. The program is addressed to those who, in Toronto, are interested in Brazil, aiming not only at the academic community but also at the community at large. The films will be shown every first Thursday of the month from October 2015 until April 2016.

Date: Thursday, October 1st
Time: 6:30pm
Local: Media Commons Theatre - Robarts Library (3rd Floor)
Free Admission

This first screening is Brazilian Western (Faroeste Caboclo, 2013), a film directed by René Sampaio with Fabrício Boliveira and Isis Valverde. Loosely based on legendary Brasília rock band Legião Urbana’s seminal folk song, René Sampaio’s lyrical, fable-like debut feature follows a young man from the provinces who decides to try his luck in the capital, where he falls in with a rough crowd — and falls for a senator’s daughter. The film was selected by TIFF in 2013, read here Diana Sanchez's short review.

This screening will be introduced by Aline Morales.

Aline Morales

Arguably the most accomplished Brazilian musician in Canada, Aline Morales built her reputation as a percussionist and bandleader. With the 2011 release of her Juno-nominated Flores, Tambores e Amores she also revealed her prowess as a vocalist and composer while demonstrating the breadth of her interpretive brilliance. An ambitious and eclectic record, Flores defies easy classification.  While rooted in classic Brazilian song styles, such as samba, forró, Northeastern folk music and 1960’s Tropicalia, Flores inhabits its own unique musical world, where traces of Italian film scores, African sounds, avant garde poetry and vintage synths ebb and flow throughout. Morales and her quintet demonstrate imaginativeness with an all-original, all-Brazilian set that goes beyond Brazil by flavouring traditional samba and bossa beats with African and European spices, adding enticing dashes of avant-garde poetry. Since her arrival in Toronto, Canada in 2003, she has been a tireless promoter of the traditional maracatu rhythms of Northeastern Brazil, performing with her 30-member percussion troupe, Baque de Bamba, at countless outdoor festivals.