Marcelo Gomes

In the favelas of Rio de Janeiro of the 1930s, João Francisco dos Santos is several things — son of slaves, ex-convict, thug, homosexual and adopted father for a number of pariahs. João expresses himself on the stage of a cabaret as Madame Satã.

After failing to be admitted into the OSESP Orchestra, a talented violinist is forced to give music classes to teenagers in a public school. He soon finds his world transformed by the power of music and friendships formed with his pupils.

Adyr, a brilliant scientist working at a public university in Rio de Janeiro, conducts cutting-edge research into psychedelics as a treatment for alcoholism—the disease that claimed her husband’s life. When she becomes the target of a group seeking to appropriate her work, Adyr must fight to complete her research while protecting her own life and that of her son, Tom.

1942, in the middle of Northeastern Brazil, two very different men meet along the road: Johan, an aspirin salesman avoiding the German draft, and Ranulpho, a rural Brazilian seeking escape from the drought.

In 2027 Brazil, civil servant Joana mainly deals with divorce cases. As a member of a branch of evangelical Christians known as the Divino Amor group, she uses her position to offer a kind of physical therapy to couples who want to separate. Although Joana and her husband Danilo regularly consummate their marriage, neither her constant prayers nor any other methods of assistance seem to be able to fulfill their desire for a child.

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.

On a hot summer day, Paloma decides to fulfill her most cherished dream: a traditional wedding in a church with her boyfriend Zé. She is a devoted mother, a hard-working farmhand in a papaya plantation and has been saving to afford the celebration. The priest’s refusal to marry her and Zé will force Paloma to confront the rural society. She suffers violence, betrayal, prejudice and injustice but nothing shakes the faith and determination of this transgender woman.

A man returns to his hometown and resumes a dangerous old affair...

José Renato, a 35-year-old geologist, is sent out on a solitary expedition to the hinterlands of northeastern Brazil. The purpose of the trip is to assess possible routes for a canal that will connect the area with the only major river in the region. As the field trip progresses, it becomes clear that Renato shares with those places the same emptiness, sense of abandonment and isolation.

Freely inspired by the work Catatau, by Paulo Leminski, the plot begins with the historical hypothesis imagined by the poet from Curitiba: “What if René Descartes had come to Brazil with Maurício de Nassau?” The film materializes this hypothesis and joins the father of modern philosophy in his journey through the tropics. Under the effect of hallucinatory herbs, he investigates questions revolving around geometry and optics in the face of an absolutely strange world. Known for his famous sentence “I think, therefore I am”, Descartes faces his doubt towards phenomena reason doesn’t explain. René, Renatus, Re born.

The cultural differences between the several generations of the rural maracatu: an afro-indigenous ritual which originated in the sugar mills of the state of Pernambuco.

Veronica, a young woman, lives in Recife, one of the most violent cities in Brazil. Her life is filled with fleeting love affairs and passing romances. As her father feels his death approaching, he asks a favor: that she finds true love before he passes away.

A documentary film about the Brazilian town of Toritama, the self-proclaimed capital of jeans. The workers of the city’s self-managed small businesses only get one real break from their self-exploiting lives in the textile business: the annual Carnival.

Scenes of the childhood of a girl, living in a small Brazilian town.

A trip, sort of a daydream in the Brazilian badlands. Remote places reveal traditions and customs of a landscape that is at once primitive and contemporary, regional and globalised.

At the end of the 1940s, Lebanon is sliding towards a devastating conflict. Catholic siblings Emilie and Emir decide to leave for Brazil. Aboard the ship to their new home, Emilie falls in love with Omar, a Muslim merchant. For an enraged and jealous Emir, the relationship is intolerable. As the story unfolds against the backdrop of the majestic rainforest, Emir’s actions and the choice that Emilie subsequently makes lead to disastrous consequences.

Brazil, 18th century. The colony of Portugal endures a decline in gold production. A Portuguese minority rules over a corrupt and autocratic society. Joaquim is an efficient soldier, famous for capturing gold smugglers. While waiting for his promotion to Lieutenant, he leaves for a risky mission in search of new gold mines - the only way to buy the freedom of Blackie, a slave he is in love with. Inspired by the true story of Tiradentes, the first leader of the Brazilian revolutionary movement.

A documentarist is convinced by her son to travel to Brazil's Northeast so she can throw his dad ashes at São Francisco river.

Sidarta Ribeiro, a Brazilian neuroscientist, explores how dreams and other forms of access to the unconscious can transform human experience. In his research, he proposes combining the ancestral knowledge of indigenous peoples and people of African origin in Brazil with scientific knowledge, as well as a scientific reevaluation of experiences with hallucinogens.

Juvenal is a metro driver from Belo Horizonte. Margô, a station controller. Both live in a state of complete solitude – each in a particular way. Juvenal refuses to be alone and strolls through the streets of this metropolis taking comfort by mingling with the anonimous crowd. Margo seeks relief in the virtual world of social networks where she struggles to establish long lasting relations with real persons.

Passages showcases Brazilian films in which the utilisation of artforms and media such as literature, painting, theatre, music, photography, radio and television, functions as a 'passage' to political and social reality.

Jéssica is a teenager from Brazilian Northeast. After being abused by her stepfather, she runs away to Recife, where starts to work with sexual tourism. Then, she meets Mark, a German tourist, and falls in love with him.

'Cuca Legal' tells the story of Mário Barroso, a single aviator involved with three women at the same time: Virgínia, Irene, and Fátima. Virgínia is a wealthy businesswoman obsessed with the direction of her late father's business; Irene is a middle-class young woman who gives private piano lessons; and Fátima is a poor widow. Mário can't decide which of them is the ideal woman to give him a child with a "cool head" (cuca legal). Things get even more complicated when Maria Joaquina, nicknamed Kinu, Virgínia's mother, also catches the aviator's attention. To escape the troubles he constantly gets into, Mário relies on the help of his mother, Dalva, and Jacaré, his great friend.

1988: A Brazilian flight attendant named Fernando jets between Rio and New York, loves many men, and lives life to the fullest. He ignores the fact that lots of people around him are contracting a mysterious illness. When he himself is diagnosed with HIV, he resolves to fight it. Taking a risk, he smuggles a drug out of the US and into Brazil, where it is illegal.