Discoveries from Brazil World Cinema

LA MANUELA is a movie about exile and self-reinvention. In august 2015, Manuela Lavinas Picq, a french-brazilian journalist and university professor, was arrested at a demonstration in Quito, Ecuador. That same night, her work visa was revoked and she was taken into custody. Manuela was forced to leave Ecuador, where she had lived for the last decade, losing her home, work and lover. This film tells the trajectory of an activist who defends the causes of indigenous peoples with a lot of identity.

Felix, a 16-year-old boy, receives a diagnosis of an incurable disease and sees his life turned into uncharted territory. Unable to accept this new reality, he goes through the stages of grief denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, a delicate beginning of acceptance. Amidst the emotional chaos, Felix finds an unexpected refuge in filmmaking. Films begin to offer not only comfort, but a new way of seeing the world and himself. It is then that his passion is born: telling stories. Driven by the need to give meaning to his life, he decides to transform his journey into art and begins to write and direct a film about his own life.

Daner's mission is to get someone to the border, but he'll need the help of everyone at Benbas to do it, will they succeed?

Dirlinho and his cousin’s childhood is marked by deprivation and violence. They try to escape by working as jockeys. While the punters bet on them, they gamble with their lives for a better future by riding doped horses.

Elizabeth is a transsexual woman who finds herself exhausted from enduring the prejudiced pressures of her mother Morgana, a megalomaniac widow who dreams of living in the potiguar political elite to which she belonged before her husband and former politician died. She insists on getting her oldest daughter Carol married to Darcy, the son of the leading candidate for the state government and a family friend. In the midst of all this, Elizabeth awakens a strong, hidden feeling in her sister's suitor.

Based on the short story of the same name by writer Ezter Liu, the film "Geisiely with Y" tells the story of a woman who was physically and psychologically abused through the eyes of the police officer who assists her. Geisiely, like so many others, is a woman who seeks some dignity in the depths of the facts.

Issues that make gender identity a social construct are exposed through the relationship between a teenager, a mother and the place where they live.

Documentary about a region in Northeast Brazil, situated in an area subject to severe drought, and the evolution of its economic activities.

Returning from a pleasant horseback ride, two lovers on their way home contemplate each other, entranced by the modesty inherent in the rigid customs they were raised in. The hero feels an irrepressible desire to come to Rio. In the capital, interested in a theater star, he heads to Buenos Aires to win her heart.

Abrindo o Armário dives into the process of liberation and conquests of the gay movement in Brazil. Through interviews, archival images and artistic performances, the film shows how homosexuals from different generations faced resistance, conquered spaces and fought for the right to construct a political, social and collective identity.

"The Writer” tells the story of Pedro, a young cowboy who defies the writer of the short film (me). I used the footage of the film “Day of Anger” and changed the dialogues in order to create this comic book world ruled by the sacred script.

A documentary on the Brazilian volleyball program.

Élvio and Eric live alone in a small apartment without talking to anyone else. The relationship between the two deteriorates until one day, mysteriously, a periscope appears in the room.

Behind-the-scenes moments from the recording of Fernanda Abreu's album, released in 2021, featuring tracks remixed by today's biggest DJs and collaborations with amazing artists from the Brazilian scene.

After years of drought, a mystic potato sprouts in the remote springs of the Aiatak River. Soon, everything will be ready for the great ritual of Tango. For the people, this is the beginning of a new era. Inspired by the short story 'A Hunger Artist' by Franz Kafka, 'Tango' is a plunge into human nature and its contradictions.

A long time public servant is told by an angel that he will die at midnight of the following day.

Didi, Dedé, Mussum (Mussum) and Zacarias are forest rangers that they work in the Amazon rain forest where they fight the action of smugglers with the aid of Juliana, a beautiful engineer. There are many funny scenes where they find the mythical source of the fountain of youth which they drink, becoming again children.

Documentary about the production of independent horror films in Brazil, made by third-year students of the Senac audiovisual course in 2008.

Poetry. Food of pure-souled beings.

Lilith would have been the first woman of humanity, but she was expelled from heaven and doomed forever for opposing the patriarchal system of the kingdom of heaven. Now she is back, with her servants and her thirst for vengeance to destroy the order created by God and the Devil.

Two adventurers try to remove a stone to find a great treasure.

Surrounded by the vivid memories of her beloved, Mia wanders and travels through another dimension. There, in the City of Hidden Things, she discovers that she can not only see her lost friend, but the memories lost throughout her life.

A documentary about what family means to you. A tribute to my friends and a huge thank you to them, because they were and are my family in moments that not even my own blood were. fuckin love you all so much.

Wandering alone in an empty universe, a man encounters unexpected presences along the vastness of his path, needing to overcome them for his journey to continue.

After waking up to find a sum of money his mother left before traveling, the protagonist buys drugs and a candy ring. He calls his friend Derby, and they get high all afternoon. Later, he goes to his girlfriend's house to give her the ring, only for her to reveal that she's pregnant.

At 45 years old, Paulo meets society's expectations, but he is hiding a truth within himself that could destroy everything he has built over the years, especially with his family

Teenager preparing for diving competition identifies with suicides who jumped from an old viaduct in Porto Alegre.

60-year-old seamstress Cida needs to sign a document at her workplace, but can't read what it says. With the help of her granddaughter's teacher, she becomes interested in literacy and, at the same time, starts questioning things that happen at her job.

In Rio de Janeiro, at the end of the millennium, a group of mostly middle-aged friends share their lives and experiences with each other.

Rosario is a prostitute who lives in her married sister's house. When the latter wants to be a hooker too, she doesn't approve.

A cheerful and innocent young woman has her peaceful evening interrupted by unidentified observations that may reveal her true condition.

Marina, a trans woman and singer in São Paulo's nightlife, reunites with her father, who has Alzheimer's, after years of estrangement. In an attempt to reconcile, she takes him to significant places from her past, hoping to revive his memories and rebuild their lost bond.

A young woman revisits memories of her fiancé while silently coping with the distance that separates them. Amid routines that now feel different, she confronts the emptiness left behind and tries to understand what remains when everything around her seems to have changed.

Xapiri is a Yanomami term that characterizes the shamans, male spirits (xapiri thëpë) and also auxiliary spirits (xapiri pë). Xapiri is an experimental film about Yanomami shamanism that was filmed during a meeting of 37 shamans at the Watoriki Reserve, Roraima, in March of 2011. The film was designed to take into account two different notions of image: those of the Yanomami and ours. Therefore, it does not set out to explain shamanism, its methods or procedures, but to allow different cultures to visualize and feel the way in which the shamans “embody” the spirits, their bodies and voices.

In "The Impassive Muse", Adrine is of Armenian descent and has OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Edivaldo is from Pernambuco and suffers from immobilizing absence seizures which make him stand as still as a statue. Adrine is married to Adilson, a brutalized man who do not bear to be touched by the woman. Edivaldo wants to marry Gladis, unlikely aspirant to the fashion world. Adrine don't want to be noticed. Edivaldo need to 'be somedbody' to win back his bride. One morning, the lives of Edivaldo and Adrine cross because of ripe orange. Among historical monuments, sculptures, people of different backgrounds and dreams, Edivaldo and Adrine share a journey of recognition and acceptance without imagining that what they live, in fact is the oldest and necessary of the stories: a love story.

Four deserters from Paraguay War hide in an old drunkard's country seat. The latter has two daughters who are unhappy with their recluse lives.

Antonio is a broken man, trapped in the memories of a past relationship. He ends up going out for one night against his will. And that night ends up transforming his life.

Panamerica, 1980. A stupid government decides that all citizens must participate in a deadly car race and sends an evil army to hunt down those who resist.

In an ancestral family home, two siblings share a profound and unspoken bond, that intertwines with their daily lives. Their deep connection extends to the house itself, a keeper of cherished memories and quiet routines that sustain their fragile tranquillity. When eerie, inexplicable events disrupt their world, the siblings and their home are drawn into a haunting exploration of love, memory, and the shadows lurking within.