Heitor Villa-Lobos

From the Giovanni Agnelli Auditorium in Turin: Aaron Copland, Danzon Cubano; Heitor Villa-Lobos, Bachianas brasileiras No. 2; Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story symphonic dances. Conductor John Neschling. RAI National Symphony Orchestra.

The third episode of the Cities of Love franchise, Rio, I Love You is an anthology, created by 10 visionary directors from across the globe. The story line of each segment focuses on an encounter of love in a different neighborhood of the city, demonstrating the distinctive qualities and character of that location. The film serves to bridge gaps between cultures, educating and entertaining the audience, while celebrating unique and universal expressions of love.

A young Venezuelan idealist flees his native land to escape a revolution. Hoping to find peace, he goes to the mountains and the forests of the Amazon. There he encounters Rima, the Bird Girl, an orphan living a life of nature, who is feared by a local jungle tribe.

Beneath the gilded ceilings of the Palais Garnier, Gustavo Dudamel takes us on a colorful journey between Spain and South America, performed by the Orchestra and singers of the Paris Opera Academy. The program includes works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Leonard Bernstein, Astor Piazzolla, Enrique Granados, Kurt Weill, and others.

Film installation depicting aerial landscape photography at Sebastião Selgado's Amazônia exhibition. Accompanied with 'Erosão - Origem do Rio Amazonas' by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

O Descobrimento do Brasil (The Discovery of Brazil) is an impressive historical epic recreating Álvares Cabral’s voyage to the New World in 1500, with a score especially written by the renowned composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. One of the earliest examples of Brazilian cinema, this film depicts the perilous journey of Pedro Álvares Cabral’s armada from Portugal to Brazil. Though somewhat rudimentary compared to other films of the period, The Discovery of Brazil distinguishes itself with its scenes of indigenous people and Portuguese explorers on the beach, and in the imaginative lighting on board the ship. But the real star is the beautiful cantata by Villa-Lobos that permeates the film.

On a farm in rural Brazil in the 18th century, a new overseer arrives. He falls in love with one of the enslaved women, Mestiça, beloved by all the men. When a pair of silver earrings disappears from the farm and the overseer orders the leader of the enslaved women arrested, Mestiça decides to take revenge.

Against all advice, a destitute Brazilian old man marries a nineteen-year-old girl. Because he can’t give her any children, he moves to the interior to make money, so she will at least have a good life. When he returns, he is told she has a three-year-old daughter. He buys himself a knife.

In Rio de Janeiro, Gilberto (Celso Guimarães) is a talented artisan engaged of Marina (Lídia Mattos), working in a pottery factory. He is hired by the millionaire widow Luciana (Carmem Santos) to perform a restoration in her castle in Correas, a district of Petrópolis. He suffers an accident and Luciana lodges and treats him for a long period, and they fall in love for each other.

From the Carlo Felice Theater in Genoa, Andrea Bacchetti performs piano music by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Diemer, Schumann, Debussy, Malipiero, Chopin, Rossini, Hasse, and Villa-Lobos.

The German Frau Gelli runs a school aimed at girls from wealthy families who presented problems of social behavior and challenge the established principles. In order to educate the young, Frau Gelli imposes an iron discipline, in which is assisted by two betels, Kranz and Hanz, individuals of abrupt manners that are dedicated to punish the girls. The director cares little for the cultural education given by teachers Renina and Raul, morally weak to challenge the brutality to which the girls are subjected. They use the servant Girico to get them men on the street. The punishments against the young women reach unbearable levels and many try to flee without success until Solange, the most revolted of the students, after being very punished, plans and kills Frau Gelli and the two bears. The police are called and she is arrested. His colleagues are finally released and the school is closed.

A semi-autobiographical film about an adolescent relationship, about emotional illiterates of a particular age and milieu. Structured as a series of fragments – so called “shards of memory” – the film follows the progressive dissolution of the affair in search for clues to its undoing.

“The Little Dominos Jingle Bells” was made to celebrate the centennial of the work “Children’s Carnival” of one of Latin America’s most celebrated composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. His musical play consisted in explore the folklore behind this brazilian festivity and capture the essence of carnival´s most common costume archetypes. The short explores the figure of the little dominos, one of the many carnival costume archetypes that Villa-Lobos represented in his musical play. In this short film, the little dominos dance together and compete over who gets in possession of the Jingle Bells, while doing an outstanding music performance.

Curitiba is a maze of ideas, people and contradictions. This short-film shows that perspective of the city, with its statues, ghost buses, brokens sidewalks and capybaras.

The only musician to perform at the Modern Art Week of 1922, composer Villa-Lobos was the object of the biggest boos at that event. After that, he decided to spend some time in Paris, where he met characters like Jean Cocteau, Andres Segovia, Arthur Rubinstein, among others. It is from there that Villa-Lobos confronts his identity, starting to seek new directions for his work in his roots. This movie travels through the places where the musician went in the French capital, investigating the causes and effects of these encounters and the city in his work.

Swain is inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Fanshawe, features a dreamlike narrative of a young man’s ritualized rejection of heterosexuality, as a mysterious woman in white gossamer pursues him through a ruined landscape.

A brief look at Amazonas, its population, their costumes, the rich nature and its importance to Brazil and the world.