O BRAZIL Film Series Kicks Off 10/25 at Museum of the Moving Image

To celebrate the strength and vitality of the Brazilian film industry, Museum of the Moving Image will present a new ongoing series, O Brazil: Contemprary Brazilian Cinema. Featuring works by established directors and emerging filmmakers, this showcase will present a bird's eye view of a thriving film scene. The first installment, from November 22 through December 20, 2014, will include three films: My Mother Is a Character (Minha mãe é uma peça), starring the popular theater and TV comedian Paulo Gustavo in Brazil's biggest box-office hit of 2013; Casa Grande, Fellipe Barbosa 's coming-of-age drama that has been a hit at several international film festivals; and The Music According to Antonio Carlos Jobim (A música segundo Tom Jobim), a musical tribute to the artist who popularized bossa nova, by Cinema Novo pioneer Nelson Pereira dos Santos.

As a special preview to the new series, on Saturday, October 25, at 5:00 p.m., the Museum will present a preview screening of Daniel Ribeiro's THE WAY HE LOOKS (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho), Brazil's official entry in the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Along with Kleber Mendonca Filho's 2012 hit Neighboring Sounds, Casa Grande and THE WAY HE LOOKS are part of a wave of new films by talented emerging filmmakers which depict and dissect Brazil's new middle class and their concerns. See below for a full schedule and descriptions.

The series is organized by guest curator Marcela Goglio. "Brazilian film production has grown exponentially in the last decade, in part as a result of new cultural policies put into place by Gilberto Gil, the Minister of Culture," said Goglio. "While masters like the recently deceased Edoardo Coutinho or Nelson Pereira dos Santos continued to make films, an outpouring of innovative works by a new generation of directors from regions beyond Rio has been accompanied by a hugely popular body of commercial films that sprouted from a strong television industry."

O Brazil is presented in collaboration with Cinema Tropical.

This program is made possible through major support from the Ford Foundation. Additional support is provided by Con Edison.

SCHEDULE FOR 'O BRAZIL: CONTEMPORARY BRAZILIAN CINEMA,' OCTOBER 25, NOVEMBER 22-DECEMBER 20, 2014
Screenings will take place in the Sumner M. Redstone Theater or the Celeste and Armand Bartos Screening Room at Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue in Astoria, and are included with paid Museum admission and are free for Museum members at the Film Lover level and above unless otherwise noted. For information about Museum membership and to join, visit http://movingimage.us/support/membership. Additional event information is available here.

PREVIEW SCREENING
The Way He Looks (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Daniel Ribeiro. 2014, 96 mins. In Portuguese with English subtitles. DCP courtesy of Strand Releasing. With Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi, and Tess Amorim. A hit on the international film festival circuit, and Brazil's official entry for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Daniel Ribeiro's coming of age tale is a tender and fun story about friendship and the complications of young love. Leo is a blind teenager who is FED UP with his overprotective mother and bullies at school. Looking to assert his independence, he decides to study abroad to the dismay of his best friend, Giovana. When Gabriel, the new kid in town, teams with Leo on a school project, new feelings blossom in him that make him reconsider his plans. Meanwhile, Giovana grows jealous of this new found companionship as tensions mount between her and Leo. "Sweet and beautifully observed" (The Hollywood Reporter).

My Mother Is a Character (Minha mãe é uma peça)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Andre Pellenz. 2013, 84 mins. DCP. In Portuguese with English subtitles With Paulo Gustavo, Herson Capri, Ingrid Guimaraes, Sueli Franco. This rambunctious mix of slapstick and screwball was the biggest Brazilian box office hit in 2013. Paulo Gustavo, the popular theater and TV comedian, stars as a high-strung mom in desperate need of a break, who flees her home and leaves her grown children to fend for themselves.

Casa Grande
With writer/editor Karen Sztajnberg in person
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Fellipe Barbosa. 2014, 114mins. DCP. In Portuguese with English subtitles. With Marcello Novaes, Suzana Pires, and Thales Cavalcanti. Seventeen-year-old Jean strives to escape his privileged life within Rio's social elite. Though Barbosa's beautifully written feature debut is very personal, telling the story of his family's spiral into bankruptcy, it also boldly explores the class difference and racism, an urgent though still new conversation in Brazil today.

The Music According to Antonio Carlos Jobim (A música segundo Tom Jobim)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 7:00 P.M.
Dirs. Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Dora Jobim. 2012, 88 mins. Digital projection. With musical performances by Judy Garland, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Oscar Peterson, Diana Krall, Chico Buarque, and Lisa Ono. The pure joy of Tom Jobim's music, is celebrated in this musical tribute from one master to another. Dos Santos, the father of modern Brazilian cinema, has crafted a documentary that is free of commentary or interviews.

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