Hélio Oiticica

Hélio Oiticica was one of the artists that most united reflection with artistic creation. His ideas and propositions, expressed not only in texts but also in statements and interviews, revolutionized art and culture, transforming him into one of the most important Brazilian artists of the 20th century. Foregoing voiceover narration and expert analyses, the film allows Oiticica himself to narrate his life and expound upon his art in his own words, and in extremely rare archival audio and visual material.

The quasi-fictional story of transgender sex workers living in Rio de Janeiro's swampy red light district, who are joined by a group of hippies and a runaway stockbroker, "Mangue-Bangue" is the paradigmatic expression of the post-1968 spirit of desbunde, the Brazilian slang catchword for "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll".

A silent film shot in New York in 1972, including scenes in Hélio Oiticica’s apartment. Last film made in exile by Bressane, it mimics the experimental concept of "quasi-cinema" by Hélio Oiticica. It consists of a fragmentary experience of freedom, in super-8 and 16mm, in a code out of time, out of the square, while recreating (with different cameras) the wild and sensitive look that Oiticica dedicated to cinema. Its definitive 71-minute restored version was completed in the early 2000s.

Apocalipopótese documents a public art happening organized by Rogério Duarte with Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Pape. Duarte coined the event’s title by fusing the words apotheosis, hypothesis, and apocalypse, in order to describe a series of artistic actions that distanced themselves from artistic institutions to approach the streets as the main stage. Apocalipopótese shows a search for the margins as creative methodology.

The story of three characters in a brothel room: the prostitute Neusa Sueli, the gigolo Vado and the homosexual Veludo speak of their lives and expose their marginality.