Movies from Brazil

THE HOUSE OF SAND brings together for the first time two of Brazil’s most celebrated actresses. Academy Award nominee Fernanda Montenegro and
Palme d’Or winner Fernanda Torres – real-life mother and daughter – shine in this unique film about the lives of three generations of women. They persevere as they are challenged by the forces of Mother Nature and the tough, inhospitable sand dunes of northern Brazil, which play pivotal roles in their lives.

In a tiny village on the northeastern coast of Brazil, the young fisherman Jusce scrapes out a living by diving 30 meters with rudimentary equipment for lobster. His ‘prize’ at the end of a long day of risky work is sitting close to Ana as she savors the drama of urban sophisticates on her favorite soap opera. Ana dreams of leaving the village to see the world. Jusce is content with the life he leads. Jusce’s old fishing buddy - Rogerio - returns from the big city for holidays.

Barreto’s film offers yet another retelling of Shakespeare’s famous tale of star-crossed lovers. Instead of feuding families whose hatred leads to violence and death, Barreto serves up two families with opposing soccer team loyalties in soccer-mad Brazil.

The movie takes place in São Paulo: The gorgeous Julieta (Luana Piovani) is the beloved daughter of Alfredo Baragatti (Luiz Gustavo), who himself is a lifelong Palmeiras fan as wella s a member of the Board of the Palmeiras Soccer Club.

This film examines the creation and exhibition of the propaganda film I Am Cuba, a Soviet/Cuban collaboration. It follows Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatosov as he travels to Cuba in the early 1960s to make his film, a vignette drama which failed in both countries and was ressurrected in the West in the 1990s when Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese endorsed Milestone Films' 1993 ancillary release. First-time Brazilian director Vicente Ferraz (...)

The 20-year-old narrator André (Lázaro RamosI, relatively poor, falls in love with Silvia, a neighbor whom he spy's with a telescope. Becoming more and more attracted to her, he begins to follow her around the city and realizes she works in a clothing shop. He works in a xerox place and makes a copy of a brand new 50 real bill in order to buy a dress from her store. This becomes a vice and he begins to photocopy more and more money, until it gets out of control.

Jorge Furtado's debut feature, Houve Uma vez Dois Verões (Two Summers), is about a teenager who learns some hard truths about life. Teenager Chico (André Arteche) wants to lose his virginity during a family vacation. Roza (Ana Maria Mainieri) becomes his willing partner. Months later, Roza finds Chico and demands money so that she can get an abortion. Chico learns that she is lying to him, but he also realizes he still cares for her.

Maids presents audiences with a glimpse of life in Latin America's most dynamic urban center, São Paulo. The poor women within their local spaces defy easy definition, but both films explore the limits and possibilities of their respective subjects.

SANDUICHE (SANDWICH, in Portuguese) is a mind-bender mix of detailed character profiles, multiple points of view, and the art of cooking. But most of all, SANDWICH is wonderful because of Jorge Furtado's ability to tell a story in a way that changes entirely our perspective in each turn of the story. Here this master proves that making a movie could be just like cooking a meal - you blend flavors to create something unique. That's what makes SANDWICH so appealing - the way Furtado creates a story that changes its "flavor" every time.