Luso-Brazilian Film Screenings: Festivals’ Picks @ the Media Commons Theatre
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese in collaboration with the University of Toronto Libraries would like to invite you to the Luso-Brazilian Film Screenings: Festivals’ Picks that will be held on Thursdays of the month of March at the Media Commons Theatre (Robarts Library, 3rd floor).
PLACE Media Commons Theatre (Robarts Library, 3rd Floor)
DATE March 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2015
TIME: 7:00 pm
Screening 1 (Mar 5, 2015):
Found Memories (Histórias que só existem quando lembradas, Brazil, 2011) Directed by Julia Murat
Each citizen of Jotuomba plays an integral role in village life. Madalena is responsible for baking bread; each morning she stacks her rolls as Antonio prepares the coffee. The two share a morning ritual of arguments and insults, followed by an amicable cup of coffee on the bench outside Antonio’s shop. At midday the church bells ring, summoning the villagers to mass. In the early evening, they all share a meal together. And so life proceeds in Jotuomba, the days languidly drifting into one another. The only variations seem to be in the weather. One day Rita arrives looking for a place to stay. She came upon the village while traveling through the valley, following the unused railroad tracks. She is a photographer, intent on capturing the village’s special allure. Initially reticent, the townsfolk gradually open up to her, sharing their stories and allowing themselves to be photographed. Rita is comfortable with technologies old and new, and Madalena teaches her to knead dough by the light of an oil lamp. Only the village priest continues to find Rita’s presence worrisome, especially when she begins asking about the locked cemetery. It was awarded in several international film festivals, including San Sebastian, Lima, Reykjavik, and Washington DC.
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KX6dfb8lPsIntroduced by Hudson Moura
He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Toronto. He teaches Luso-Hispanic literature and cinema. Presently he is working in the post-production of a documentary featuring Brazilian-Canadian dancer Newton Moraes. In addition, he serves as a film programmer and hands-on workshop facilitator in international film festivals in Toronto.
Screening 2 (Mar 12, 2015):
Tabu (Portugal, 2012) Directed by Miguel Gomes
A Portuguese explorer making his wistful way through the wilds of Africa, haunted by ghosts and threatened by crocodiles, is a character in a movie that is watched by Pilar (Teresa Madruga), a middle-aged single woman living in modern Lisbon. Her unadventurous, middle-class euro zone existence is melancholy in its own way. Like the explorer, Pilar is filmed in narrow-screen black-and-white, which casts a glow of nostalgic mystery over her everyday dealings with friends and neighbors. She teams up with her deceased neighbor’s maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa. It has received many prizes, including two awards at Berlin Film Festival.
Trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi261072665/?ref_=tt_ov_viIntroduced by João Pedro Vicente Faustino
He has a Licenciatura degree in Modern Languages and Literatures, specializing in the areas of Portuguese and English, and a post-graduate degree in language and literature teaching, both from the University of Lisbon. He has been visiting lecturer in Portuguese at the universities of Delhi, India, and Granada, Spain. João is interested in the study of Second Language Teaching/Learning and of Contemporary Literature.
Screening 3 (Mar 19, 2015):
City of God (Cidade de Deus, Brazil, 2002) Directed by Fernando Meirelles
Cidade de Deus is an overwhelming film about the life of the notorious outer suburb of Rio de Janeiro of the same name, based on a book by Paulo Lins. The streets of the world’s most notorious slum are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with an artistic eye. In the face of impossible odds, his brave ambition to become a professional photographer becomes a window into his world and ultimately his way out. Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3639516697/?ref_=tt_ov_viIntroduced by Abigail Friendly
She is a planning scholar and urban researcher. She obtained a Ph.D. in Planning from the University of Toronto and a Masters in Global Politics from the London School of Economics. She studies issues of participatory planning and practice, governance and state-society relations, social justice, civil society and urban politics in the context of planning in Brazilian cities. She has lectured on Latin American geographies and given guest lectures on the Brazilian urban context. She has also worked in the public sector and as a consultant on public and urban policy including social housing and urban agriculture, both in Canada and Brazil.
Screening 4 (Mar 26, 2015):
Neighboring Sounds (O Som ao Redor, Brazil, 2012) Directed by Kléber Mendonça Filho
Meandering past the residents of a wealthy street in Recife, where private security guards ply their trade, this self-assured debut portrays the two sides of the Brazilian Dream. Filho scratches the varnish of a culture that revolves around paranoia, fear and revenge. In Neighboring Sounds, the director builds soundscapes not with pulverizing sonic waves but with a dog’s insistent bark, the faraway chatter of children playing, the sudden crash of cars at an intersection. Rather than a global apocalypse, the events depicted here are little more than a languid handful of days at an affluent block in the northeast city of Recife. Under Mendonça Filho’s wily direction, however, this seemingly low-key stroll through upper-class Brazilian streets and apartments turns out to be just as chocked with anxiety. Won many prizes around the world, including in the festivals of Rotterdam, São Paulo, Manila, Porto and Toronto Film Critics.
Trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3490030105/?ref_=tt_ov_viIntroduced by Mike Filippov
He was born in Montreal, raised in Rio de Janeiro and educated in Ontario. He is an all around sound guy. He free-lanced in recording studios, was the technical director of CIUT FM and mixed music at Toronto’s Downtown Jazz Festival before taking on the film business. He currently works as a production sound recordist, post production sound editor/mixer and documentarian.
LanguageAll movies are in Portuguese with English subtitles. Each movie will be introduced and contextualized by a specialist and a Q&A session will follow each screening.
Free AdmissionAdmission to this event is free, but please take the time to complete our event registration form:
http://goo.gl/forms/14mdFUXNGs
OrganizersHudson Moura (Department of Spanish & Portuguese)
Fabiano Rocha (University of Toronto Libraries)
SupportGeneral Consulate of Brazil in Toronto
Contact
For further information regarding this event, please contact: fabiano . rocha @ utoronto . ca
This story began in 2010 with Veras’ journalistic project concerning the impact of female leaders in poor rural communities in north-east Brazil. This professional experience soon became a personal journey about hope, a promise, and a re-encounter. Healers tells the story of a woman known as Dona Josefa who has been a health care worker, midwife, and community leader for over 50 years. Besides taking care of villagers, she can deeply affect people who cross her path, like filmmaker Gabi Veras—who had a dream of becoming a mother. After a promise made by Veras, the director returns to Sertão—Brazil’s most neglected area—and discovers the world of herbal medicine. Healers shows that despite the lack of support from authorities in these remote areas, traditional medicines which combine prayer with the use of herbs are slowly making governments realize their power. Today, some communities in the region that have been served by these herbal-based treatments have shown themselves to have efficient, trustworthy, and economical systems of alternative medicine. Intrigued by such an effective way of promoting health, Veras takes the viewer on her personal journey, uncovering an unconventional world that exists and functions thanks to women like Dona Josefa.
