Discoveries from Brazil World Cinema

On a lazy summer afternoon in the countryside, Manu finds respite for her pre-adolescent dilemmas in a relationship that goes beyond friendship.

Young filmmaker is looking for a story for his first feature film. In an attempt to obtain the copyright for a novel, the young man accepts the author's unusual proposal and together they set off in search of an old love of the writer.

The film is close to the experiences of men and women forced to survive on the streets of São Paulo in the early 1990s, a time of deteriorating living conditions for workers, high unemployment and increasing urban poverty. Between approaching the problem as something structural and a sensitive look at the characters, the documentary portrays the lives of people who lost their work, distanced themselves from their affections and saw their identity disintegrate.

Felipe is obliged to spend his afternoons with Aunt Guta.

Artist Heitor dos Prazeres talks about his life as a painter and samba musician.

This Brazilian documentary follows four drag‑queen artists — Tchaka, Hellena Borgys, Márcia Pantera and Vera Ronzella — as they share their personal journeys, performances and identities. Filmed between late 2022 and early 2023, the film explores both the celebratory, glamorous side of drag performance and the challenges these performers face (prejudice, resistance, the work of building a public art identity). Beginning with their stories and everyday lives, the documentary invites viewers into their creative worlds — how each developed their persona, how they navigate their art in society, and how they claim their truth on stage and off.

After being born Georgina in the outback of Bahia, she became known as Diva Rios in São Paulo’s Boca do Lixo and Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa, as well as Suzy King in the nights of Copacabana, but died as Jacuí Japurá on the border of the United States and Mexico. Four names for just one woman: fascinating, moody and very creative. Singer, songwriter, actress, ballet, folk, burlesque and exotic dancer, snake charmer and fakir were only some of the artistic endeavors she tackled during her life. Found dead on the trailer where she lived in August of 1985, in California, she left behind stories without conclusion, lost remainings of her troubled trajectory and a trail of mystery. Three decades later, two historians gather fragments of her tale with the goal of piecing together the complex puzzle that was her life. Actresses, singers, musicians and performers join them to rescue the poetic aspects of her unique personality. A question resounds throughout the entire movie: Suzy King, who are you?

On an unusually rainy night, a man and a woman meet unexpectedly in an empty café. They don’t know it yet, but this encounter will force them to make a decision that could alter how their story ends — or begins.

In the interior of the state of Ceará, Rio works in a bicycle repair shop in the morning and stirs up the town with declarations of love at night. She wants to travel the world, but she doesn't know how to ride a bike. Cláudia, her best friend, wants to stay and become a city councilor. Evângelo just wants to love Rio.

Three corrupt emeritus from the same small political party involved in a plot of sex, corruption and betrayal are the main characters of an agile, dreamlike plot that refers to the best achievements of Brazilian marginal cinema.

A film about popular movements in defense of housing. Introducing: the State against the Homeless, in the capital of Brazil.

Real testimonials from five Latin American immigrants who share their experiences and challenges, recounting what it has been like to build a new life in Brazil from their different perspectives in the city of Foz do Iguaçu. Individual experiences are revealed and reflect on belonging, identity, and the constant reinvention of those who cross territories in search of new opportunities.

In an old, dilapidated mansion in downtown São Paulo, an old Shakespearean actor exiled from the stage lives with his ghosts. In his bed, surrounded by red curtains taken from an abandoned theater, he dreams of the plague and fire spreading throughout the country. A strange community forms around the old actor.

A group of TV reporters gather a team of experts in the town of Moquebatu da Moca, where the residents believe in the myth of "Tupã-Guaraná", a being that is supposedly behind the missing people in the area. The story progresses with more and more ridiculous scenarios as the team conducts investigations and interviews with the locals.

Using a mixture of film clips and interviews with Ozualdo Candeias himself the film tells the director's 40 year trajectory.

In a student republic, seven young people share their lives in an apparently common way. A party, however, brings an event that will take down any social mask and throw the republic into its hidden rot.

The documentary video follows the unique trajectory of the dancer Mercedes Baptista, considered the main precursor of Afro-Brazilian dance.

When 11-year-old Ana travels to her grandmother’s funeral in a town in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, strange things begin to happen. Next to her family’s house lies a forest, and within it a magical world inhabited by ghosts, wolves, and all sorts of fantastic beings. In the course of a carnival holiday, a family mystery linking her grandmother and her mother must be unraveled through intuition and courage. Only then will the wounds of the past be healed to re-enchant the present.

A documentary about the history of the anarchist-led workers' movement in Brazil. It shows the transformation of immigrants into the first urban workers and chronicles the most important strikes, the successes and defeats of the movement, from the end of the 19th century until 1922.

A quiet weekend turns into a hellish nightmare when the boat some people are in shipwrecks during a storm. The family stays marooned in an island, and conflicts arise.

The Locomotiva reveals a philosophy that inspired the life and work of the most controversial manager of Brazilian football. Eurico Miranda attracts hatred and passion from Vasco fans and all football lovers.

Documentary about Maria Bethânia, at the very beginning of her career as a singer, when she arrived in Rio da Bahia to replace Nara Leão in the show Opinião. Bethânia's appearance, at that time in southern Rio, was a cultural shock that shook the city. The film also contains scenes of her daily life and meetings with other musicians.

Man finds a job as a dog catcher, but feels sorry for the animals and sets them free.

The silence of the days packs Aluísio's lonely life. From the waters that were once Josiah's loss, he finds Jonas, unconscious and wounded. Under the constant gaze of the sea, the passing of the days, and the relationship that arises, their lives become intertwined.

In 1988, brothers Flávio and Patrícia outline a plan to take Cassandra, the most popular girl in school, to bed. Thirty years later, separated by time, they still reside in the small town of Alvorada / RS, where their lives are interconnected by inhabitants of different social classes and obscure personalities.

Four girls are educated during the "Belle Époque" period in Belém, Brazil.

Forty years separate Maria Eugênia, or Maê, a writer from Pernambuco based out of France, from the couple Miguel and Lúcia, who has just celebrated their 40-year anniversary. Maê's return uncovers old doubts and suspicions. Miguel, a sociology professor and former political prisoner, wants to face the truth, and Lúcia, his life partner who has dedicated herself to getting him out of prison, wants to escape from it. From the point of view of these three main characters we learn about political events.

While still in cinema school, Diego stood out as one of the most promising students, directing successful shorts. However, coming to the job market, he can not establish himself as a filmmaker, being forced to film wedding ceremonies.

One man seeks revenge, the other, redemption. Their paths cross in the dusty warehouse of a local militia, where 100,000 reais is hidden somewhere inside.

This time, the big villain is a very mysterious man who is paid by various governments for his mercenary espionage services.

Sara, a theater aficionado, begins to experience episodes of mental confusion. At this difficult stage in her life, she resorts to memories of the plays she has seen.

Sofia is a little girl home alone during the pandemic chaos. Her dad needs to go to work and leaves her by herself. Now that her cellphone is broken and without being able to go out, she dialogues with creative fantasies that teach her how to deal with loneliness.

The result of more than ten years of research and using archival material, photos and videos recorded by the residents themselves, during conflicts that took place in the 1990s, this documentary addresses important facts for the then invasion of Estrutural. Begun in the 1960s, almost simultaneously with the construction of Brasília, this invasion arose on the outskirts of what is now the largest open-air dump in Latin America. Residents, politicians and military personnel present their views on the past and present of the community, in a synthesis of the process of urbanization in the Federal District.

Helena and her friends embark on one final investigation, determined to uncover a secret capable of revealing the whole truth about the Reaper, a masked killer who forever marked their lives. The past returns, the mask begins to fall, and there is no more escape.

Forgotten by her father after ballet class, Carolina finds herself encouraged by a friend to try to walk home alone. On this adventure, the girl will face her fears and encounter curious characters.

A sensitive look over multiple sclerosis.

Ring whose previous owner was a prostitute with supernatural powers causes double personality in a young woman about to marry. After some time, her face gets disfigured, forcing her to wear a mask.

In Brazil, arson is the leading cause of deforestation and land grabbing. Alex Gomes, leader of a volunteer fire brigade, battles grueling and dangerous fires in an effort to save his community and the environment.