Brazilian cinema is one of the highlights of 81st Venice Festival, between August 28th and September 7th, with a wide-ranging participation that ranges from the dispute for the Golden Lion to the virtual reality section, reaffirming itself after the difficulties of the Bolsonaro era.
The flagship of Brazil's participation in the festival is the new film by Walter Salles, “I'm Still Here”, which tells the true story of Eunice Paiva, wife of former congressman Rubens Paiva, who was persecuted, kidnapped and killed by the military dictatorship.
The Brazilian cast in Venice also includes the short film “Minha Mãe é uma vaca”, a work by Moara Passoni set in the Pantanal, in the Horizontes Curtas section; “Apocalypse in the tropics”, a documentary by Petra Costa about the link between Bolsonarism and religious fundamentalism, in the Out of Competition selection; “The hour and turn of Augusto Matraga”, adaptation by Roberto Santos of the novel by Guimarães Rosa, at the Veneza Clássicos exhibition; and the virtual reality animation “40 days without the sun”, by João Carlos Furia, in the “Immersive Venice” section.
Furthermore, Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Aquarius” and “Bacurau”) is part of the jury that will choose the winners of the festival's main awards, including the Golden Lion.
For Cao Quintas, professor of cinema and audiovisual at ESPM and partner of the production company Latina Estudio, this significant presence in Venice is a symbol of the resumption of incentives for cultural production in Brazil after the “dismantling” of promotion policies during the government of Jair Bolsonaro. , which had abolished the Ministry of Culture.
“People are interested in Brazilian content, and producers are starting to follow a successful path in festivals and international markets”, says the professor in an interview with ANSA. “And Venice comes to crown these new possibilities for Brazilian cinema”, he adds.
Rubens Rewald, filmmaker and professor at the School of Communication and Arts at the University of São Paulo (ECA-USP), states that Brazilian audiovisual still suffers the effects of the “disastrous interruption” in the governments of Michel Temer and Bolsonaro, but highlights that the The trend is for the country to “return to richer and more diversified production”.
“Walter Salles is perhaps the most international of our directors, and it is also significant to have a Brazilian filmmaker on the jury. Moara's film is very interesting, she is a young filmmaker who moves between fiction and documentary. But it's not such a surprising thing [the Brazilian presence in Venice], although it's not something to throw away. Not so much there, not so much here”, highlights the USP professor.
Humberto Neiva, coordinator of the Faap cinema course, follows the same path and points out that Brazil has always been present at major festivals. “It is a continuation of the quality of Brazilian films, which are very well made and have important, urgent themes. Festivals want this type of film,” he highlights.
At the Berlin Festival, São Paulo filmmaker Juliana Rojas already won the award for best direction for “City; field” in the “Encounters” selection, and now the eyes turn mainly to “I’m still here”.
With a star-studded cast, including Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro and Selton Mello, heavyweights of Brazilian cinema, the film is inspired by journalist Marcelo Rubens Paiva's book about his mother and marks Salles' return to the festival where he performed with “Abril Despedaçado” in 2001.
“Anyone who knows Walter Salles' work knows that he makes very well-made, well-crafted films, with very good actors, so I hope he brings important reflections to the current moment”, points out Quintas. (HANDLE)
