Discoveries from Brazil World Cinema

Tony and his best friend, Ivy, decide to rob the bar where he works to steal a new drug that will take them on a journey to meet God.

Silmara, an industrial worker and a woman of exuberant beauty, supports her arsonist father and gets involved with two different pop stars, from whom she learns traumatic life lessons.

A dramatized account of Colombia's 1985 Palace of Justice siege combines fictional elements with historical footage, exploring themes of belief, turmoil, and lasting national trauma.

When João goes to Brazil in search of a better life, he meets punk music enthusiast Maria and falls in love with her. But his involvement in the local drug trade makes him the target of a vicious drug lord.

Everything changes in Fani's life when the opportunity arises to do an exchange program and live in another country for a year. The revealing conversations by phone or MSN and the constant notes during the class turn to another subject: the upcoming trip.

On his 18th birthday in 90s Rio, a young man and his best friend join a jiu-jitsu gym to protect themselves from local threats. While one believes in dreaming beyond reality, the other rejects hope, convinced his future is already set.

In northern Brazil, Hermila patiently waits for her husband. However, he has abandoned her. Sexy, restless and resolute, she raffles off "a night in paradise" with herself. This beautifully-shot portrait doesn't shy away from the burdens of a young scarred woman, but it also celebrates her courage to live according to her own rules.

José Henrique Fonseca crafts an ambitious and long overdue homage to a central icon in Brazil’s 20th century history. Reminiscent of film noir classics, the biopic tells the glorious and tragic story of the legendary football striker Heleno de Freitas. The sumptuous black and white cinematography reflects the chic life of Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s as it fell under the spell of sports royalty. Heleno was no doubt one of the most popular players of his time for his bravura in the field and magnificent goal-scoring that lead the Botafogo team to the top and himself into a vicious downward spiral.

Enio is a middle-aged man who lives in solitude after a failed relationship. Pedro, 30, dates Teresa, who is moving to her home. He inherited a carpentry from his father and a taste for the pool. When a traffic accident crosses the parallel trajectories of the two, the imponderable imposes itself and the uncontrol begins.

A restaurant owner going over the edge when an armed robbery is attempted at his establishment. He holds everyone captive at gunpoint – criminals and customers alike – and situations corrode into a nightmare state, guided by manipulation and raw compulsion.

The true story of a working class boy who moves to the nation's financial capital at a young age and becomes one the most influential politicians in Brazilian history.

Orfeu is a popular composer from a samba school. He lives in the favela and falls madly in love when he meets Euridice, a newcomer to the neighborhood. But the local drug boss Lucinho stands between them and will drastically change both their lives.

Many exotic characters meet in São Paulo night, looking for love and adventure: Malu, a model; Mauro, a drag queen; Teddy, a hustler; Guto, a gay reporter; and Marta, an actress.

In 1987, in Goiânia, two paper collectors find a radioactive capsule and sell it to the owner of a junkyard. Once the capsule is opened, more than 250 people end up contaminated by the substance called Cesium 137, being the biggest radiological accident in the history of Brazil.

Three young people arrive from different parts of the country to go to college in Sao Paulo. On their first day there, a strange and intense attraction unites them. Together, they rent an apartment and begin living together, in close quarters. Sharing kisses and fond embraces. They exchange words of endearment with the naturalness of ordering a sandwich at a diner. They threaten to break up and the next moment they are all laughing together again. College days however soon come to an end and, with each having different paths to trail, separation is imminent. And consequently, their gestures, words and attitudes take on a new weight. Touching each other now takes on a new significance. Words of love are weighed down by consequences.

Neiva is a dedicated manicurist, loved by her friends, adored by her daughter and granddaughter, and oppressed by Fábio, her boyfriend. Desire and obsession surround her daily life. Like many women in Brazil, she works, has fun, and cares for her family, but she also faces challenges in an abusive and troubled relationship. A prisoner of her own feelings, she is a woman who suffers in silence and whose destiny can be revealed for liberation or absolute catastrophe.

Three children are caught in school with an erotic book. His parents are called by the leadership to discuss the problem. During the meeting, comes to surface the love and sexual problems of these three couples; such as lack of desire, betrayal, love, passion, insecurity and provocations.

On an unusual day, a series of coincidences lead Eduardo to meet Monica at a party. A curiosity is aroused between the two and, despite not being alike, they fall madly in love. In 1980s Brasília, their love needs to mature and learn to overcome differences.

A group of Brazilian teenagers are haunted by the Cumade Fulozinha, a forest spirit from old folk tales.

Pedro earns a living in chat rooms. He transforms himself into NeonBoy in front of the webcam. Slowly, this young man dips his fingers into pots of coloured paint and glides them across his naked body. But things change when Pedro notices that somebody is imitating his performances. He agrees to go on a date with his mysterious rival. This rendezvous will have far-reaching consequences.

When a 5-year-old girl falls from her father's apartment, her mother embarks on a quest for justice — and is put under the national spotlight.

Dona Hermínia is back, but now rich and famous since she is the host of her own successful TV show. However, the overprotective character will have to deal with her children's departures, as Marcelina and Juliano decide to move out. In counterpart, she will welcome, as a visitor, her sister Lúcia Helena, who's been living in New York.

In a dystopian future, the Brazilian government decrees a measure that forces black citizens to migrate to Africa in an attempt to return to their origins. Seeing themselves in the center of terror, two cousins take refuge in an apartment, where they debate social and racial issues, and share the same yearning for the change of country.

Story of Brazilian bank-robber Lúcio Flávio, who fascinated some people in Rio de Janeiro during the 1970s for his bold robberies and spectacular escapes, and also because he was thought to be intelligent and "politically aware". Before dying, he disclosed a network of corruption in Brazilian Police, and its involvement with the infamous "Death Squad" of the time, a group of policemen who went about killing criminals without giving them a fair trial.

A woman and her daughter move into a house with a panic room, a secret space where residents can hide in case of danger. When alleged burglars break into the house, they take refuge in the room, until they discover that it is precisely there that the trio of intruders are looking for.

A man who grew up an orphan finally gets to meet his father: The psychopath Dr. Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz surgeon who performed genetic experiments on concentration camp refugees during WWII.

Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 2007, Kléber Mendonça Filho recorded testimonies about this relationship in Brazil, the United States and Europe, based on his experience as a critic.

A group of friends finds their fun at vacation camp ruined when a big corporate developer threatens to build a pollution-spewing factory on the land.

After a toxic and mysterious pink cloud suddenly appears around the globe, people are forced to shelter in place. A woman finds herself stuck in an apartment with a stranger after a one-night stand, and the two come to terms with staying together.

Under the masks and fantasies of another day in Rio's suburbs, the intense reality of families and neighbors living in a neighborhood under the domain of the expansive militia is hidden.

Three stories. 'Rainha do Fliper' (Pinball's Queen) Reginéia is the pinball's queen, exploited by her pimp Giba. Out of the blue, her former boyfriend Tenório comes to the arcade place seeking out Reginéia. 'Uma Aula de Sanfona' (One Class of Accordion) Bank clerk Nanci and her friend Cristina have come from Ribeirão Preto and share an apartment in São Paulo. Nanci has an argument with her lover Valdemar, and goes to her room blaming her upset on the accordian lessons that her neighbor, Durval Pereira, is giving on the floor above, but what is his secret? 'Belinha, a Virgem' (Belinha, the Virgin) The wedding day of the virgin, Belinha is rapidly approaching,. But the wedding is against the will of her fiancé's mother. When her future mother-in-law asks the parochial priest to check whether Belinha is virgin or not, the girl uses her sculptural body to resolve the situation.

Santamaria and Urtigo are two bandits on the run, one is white, the other black. Santamaria is a mystical visionary and believes in the imminent coming of a purifying angel. Urtiga, his inseparable companion, is a simple-minded and ingenious man who follows Santamaria around and participates in the crimes he commits. The two bandits take over a house after kidnapping its owner and his girlfriend.

When they discover their town lacks funding for a sewage system, but does have a federal grant to make a movie, a group of villagers decide to make a sci-fi joint about a monster who lives in the building site of a septic tank.

Love turns to hate and panic breeds suspicion as two parents deal with the kidnapping of their child.

2013. During Operation Bidone, the Federal Police seized a truck loaded with palm heart, which contained 697 kg of cocaine. The investigation falls on the team assembled by Ivan Romano, based in Curitiba and composed by Beatriz, Júlio and Ítalo. The traffic connections lead them to the dower Alberto Youssef and later to the former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa, who reveals an immense structure involving builders and the government, in order to divert public money. As the investigation progresses, the group led by Ivan is increasingly approaching some of the country's most influential politicians.

Adrift in the vast expanse of the ocean, a solitary boat carries three castaways—a man and two women. Stranded and devoid of any glimmer of rescue, they find solace in recounting the tales of their lives to one another. As they delve into their personal narratives, reminiscing about the circumstances that led them to this desolate predicament, they navigate through the depths of three distinct destinies. Bound by the confines of their shared space, every aspect of their existence becomes a boundary, underscoring their plight.

Márcia discovers that her husband is having an affair and decides to take a trip out into an isolated part of Brazil with little human contact. There she finds a black stallion roaming the fields.

Tenement women from the Bexiga neighborhood become prostitutes, induced by a mulatto woman and a crook.

Everything seems to be going well in the stable relationship between Mari and Rafa, until Isis and Fred move into the apartment next door. The new neighbors make no secret of the fact that they are in an open relationship.

Adapted from his autobiography, the film recounts the story of Hiroito, The King of Boca do Lixo (a region in downtown São Paulo of the fifties where various nightclubs, strip joints, prostitution, bars, and drugs can be found). Hiroito was a well born bohemian and at the age of 21 was accused for the murder of his father, who was violently stabbed over 40 times with a razor. Hiroito was not charged, however two months after the death of his father, Hiroito bought two guns and moved to Boca do Lixo and became one of the most dangerous criminals of the region.

Emilia arrives at her Aunt Ines’ hostel at the Argentina-Brazil border looking for her long lost brother. In this luxuriant jungle, a dangerous beast believed to be the spirit of an evil man taking the form of different animals seems to be roaming around. On a journey to sexual awakening, Emilia will have to confront her past in order to kill the beast.

In order to study fashion in so-desired Paris, a young country girl who hates Carnival travels to Rio de Janeiro to try to get support from the most famous designer in Brazil. Set on sneaking into the sewing team of one of the biggest samba schools, she will discover that Carnival only lasts for a week, but a love story can change her entire life.

Jéssica is a simple young woman, dedicated to her job at an antique shop in Rio de Janeiro, but she feels her life lacks purpose. Everything changes when she finds a mysterious locket identical to an item she inherited from her late mother. Driven by the desire to understand the connection between the locket and her family history, Jéssica teams up with Gabriel, a distant relative who appears unexpectedly.

A lonely beach on the southernmost coast of Brazil is the scene for two friends, on the brink of adulthood, to explore their understanding of themselves and one another. Martin has been sent by his father to retrieve what appears to be an inheritance-related document from the family of his recently deceased and estranged grandfather. Tomaz accompanies him, seemingly hoping to regain some of their former closeness. The two boys shelter themselves in a glass house, in front of a cold and stormy sea.

When radical science backfires, miners and researchers confront apocalypse in Tiago Melo’s pulpy, politically charged sci-fi fusing local myth, dark humour, working-class grit and radioactivity in Brazil’s Northeast.

After 20 years missing, João Grilo returns to Taperoá to join his old friend Chicó and, after his story of resurrection spreads, he is disputed as an electoral candidate by the two most powerful politicians in the city.

Fátima is a woman who left São Luís do Maranhão for Rio de Janeiro to fulfill her dream of being a singer. As the years go by, her dream becomes more and more distant and she finds herself forced to exchange stages for tarot cards.

Ivan Canabrava is a writer, turned insurance ivestigator who investigates mysterious deaths involving Bufo Marinus. Bufo Marinus is a frog poison causing catalepsy in humans, simulating death, enabling grand insurance fraud and other crimes. Ten years later, now as a successful writer, similar characters possibly using Bufo Marinus reappear and create an intricate plot full of surprises.

In 1928, industrialist Henry Ford built a company town in the Brazilian jungle and established a rubber plantation. Within a few years his industrial utopia collapsed, coming to an end in 1945. Fordlândia was largely abandoned and became known as a ghost town.

A year after the disappearance of his son, Thomas Mathews, an investigative journalist, still has no information and begins his own obsessive search. However, the obsession has him losing his house and job so his boss sends him on special assignment in Brazil. In Brazil, Mathews investigates close encounter sightings that have taken place in the small cities of Quixada and Quixeramobim-also known as Area Q. While there, he realizes he will face the biggest discovery of his life.

Beto is a bus conductor married to Gilda, who longs to have a child. When Beto gets closer to Leia, owner of his favorite bar, he meets Valcir, a newcomer who completes the love triangle that results in pregnancy. Amid the difficulties in dealing with this situation, the characters run through the city and find out more about themselves as they learn to confront their personal conflicts.

After 10 months of a self imposed lockdown, Francisco wants to have sex.

Iremar works at the rodeo in North East of Brazil. From his home, the truck he uses to transport the animals, he dreams of a future in the region's booming clothing industry.

In 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States and the Second World War was over. Right? Wrong. For eighty percent of the Japanese community in Brazil, Japan had won the war and defeat was nothing more than American propaganda. The few immigrants that accepted the truth were persecuted. Some were hunted down and assassinated - by their own countrymen - causing the start of a new, private war. Dirty Hearts is a thriller and love story told by the wife of one of the fanatics dedicated to preach Japanese victory. Little by little, she watches her husband, a hard-working immigrant, become an assassin and their love story fade away.

The Alemão community in Rio de Janeiro is known for its high crime rate. Once again, a team faces drug trafficking to try to carry out the proposals inside the complex.

Four bodies are found at a cave accident and forensics point to the only survivor as the culprit. He denies guilt, accusing his wife of committing the crime. But how is this so? She is one of the deceased.