Luís Melo

The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small town in Northeastern Brazil. When they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary before they are admitted to paradise.

Nando, a 12 year old boy, narrates the adventures of his father Antonio, during the 60s in Brazil, who leaves the inland of the state of Minas to go to Brasília, a recently inaugurated city, but still with construction works in progress.

Cabral is a 60 year old playwright who's married to Glorinha, an actress who's 20 years younger than him. They've been together for half of her live, and now they're getting bored...

In an isolated countryside house founded by an elite, surrounded by slavery memories, a crossdresser retreat is set up. Far from the Brazilian dictatorship of the 70’s, men dress themselves with a glamour and delirious reality. This forged freedom crumbles when the real world infiltrates the house. Crossing the thin line between lies and truths. A fatality is just a matter of time…

Released from the Mental Health Wing of São Paulo State Penitentiary after forty years, the sadistic undertaker Zé do Caixão is back on the streets, haunted by ghostly visions and spirits of past victims but still set upon the goal that sent him to prison in the first place: finding a woman who can give him the perfect child.

During a time of political upheaval in Brazil, two strangers meet by coincidence in a foreign land and end up caught in the middle of a gem smuggling ring.

Cleo, a 43-year-old astronomer who is pregnant and emotionally fragile, is surprised by a visit from Nalu, her half-sister of Indigenous descent. The encounter reveals dark secrets and stirs up fragmented memories in Cleo, leading the two of them down a path of mysterious investigations.

After 20 years missing, João Grilo returns to Taperoá to join his old friend Chicó and, after his story of resurrection spreads, he is disputed as an electoral candidate by the two most powerful politicians in the city.

Based upon the true story of Olga Benário, the German-born wife of Brazilian communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes. During the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) she was arrested and sent to Nazi Germany, where she was put to death in a concentration camp. After World War II began, Vargas decided to uphold the Allies.

In 1908, Titoe leaves her home country of Japan to try her luck in Brazil. Her intention is just to get rich and return in five years, but life has other plans for her.

Diogo Álvares, a Portuguese map illustrator, reaches the Brazilian coast, after his caravel sinks. He is saved by the Indian chief Itaparica and his two daughters, Paraguaçu and Moema. They call him Caramuru and together they engage in a happy love triangle. But the chance to return to Portugal arises, and it is clear this amoral arrangement cannot last.

A biography of spiritual medium and author Francisco Candido Xavier.

Cafundó is a 35 mm color film which blends fact with fiction in the life of João de Camargo, a former black slave (1858-1942, Sorocaba, Brazil) who, in his old age, works miracles and devotes himself to assisting others in order to attain his freedom. João de Camargo represents the genesis of religious and cultural syncretism in Brazil.

A group of friends working on an offshore oil rig maintain close bounds and do their best to face the difficulties presented by living and working isolated out in the middle of the sea. A job promotion triggers events that disrupt, in an irreversible way, the group friendship and the protagonist’s own life on land. He is tested by the force of destiny and experiences the drama of an ordinary man facing a gradual process of isolation.

Henry Czerny plays American journalist Michael Coleman, a strung-out expatriate writing for a Brazilian newspaper. His professional obsession is Father Stephen Louis, a mildly popular and charismatic priest who has been the major political opponent of the greedy and ruthless landowners of the Bahia region. Mysteriously, the usually outspoken Father Louis has been silent for three months. With the Brazilian Congress about to vote on a major land-redistribution bill that could potentially tip the balance of power even further, Father Louis’s support of the peasants and his condemnation of the landowners is more important than ever. Coleman sets out alone for the politically unstable Bahia region to capture a highly anticipated interview with the elusive priest.

A journalist is placed upon the management of a large broadcasting company to the capital of Brazil at the time of local elections. She must now face ideological and ethical questions, brought back by a left-wing former boyfriend and her own colleagues. At the same time, a free-lancer spy is sent by an obscure figure in politics to manipulate the elections and its media coverage.

Inspired by the legend that explains the formation of the majestic Iguazu Falls, this is a film about love, innocence, and the consequences of choices. Long ago, the Iguazu River flowed calmly, without waterfalls. Tarobá, a young indigenous warrior, was in love with Naipi, the beautiful daughter of Chief Igobi. When Naipi is chosen to be offered as a sacrifice to the powerful serpent-god M'boi, Tarobá faces a decision: to give up his love in devotion to the god or to fight to remain by Naipi's side, even if it means facing an eternal destiny.

After breaking off her engagement on her wedding day and going directly to a prostitution house, a young model becomes the city's most famous harlot, known as "Hilda Hurricane", in the 50's Brazil. She could do fine if it wasn't for Malthus, a young novice said to be a saint, for whom she falls in love. However, the boy is kept under the strict, severe doctrine of Father Nelson, a conservative priest intolerant even to every minor sin. Things start getting harder when Roberto, Malthus' old friend and a communist reporter (the actual author of the story), tries to interview Hilda and disclosure the real reasons behind her radical change of mind. In the meantime, the middle-classes are terrified by the "leftist threat" in Brazilian politics.

Sol and Tião are born to different social backgrounds—she to a poor suburban family in Rio, and him to an even poorer family who raised cattle in West São Paulo State. They eventually meet, due to unlikely circumstances, but part again, as she has set as her ultimate priority to reach the United States or bust. While she comes to the U.S. to live as an illegal immigrant, he remains in Brazil and, despite many trials and tribulations, he becomes a successful rodeo cowboy.

Inside a chaotic emergency room in Rio de Janeiro, a team of doctors are torn between their internal personal conflicts, the difficulties of the profession and the surprising dramas behind each patient‘s history, in a heroic attempt to save lives...See more

Brava Gente was a television series aired by TV Globo in Brazil between 2000 and 2003, initially as a special year-end. The program was adapted from stories and national stories, and plays by famous playwrights, screenwriters and signed by a number represented by several actors and actresses. The genres of the stories varied each week with the style of each director or author. Brava Gente in the stories ranged from comedies and dramas. In all 53 episodes were shown, broadcast on Tuesday nights.

Paloma is a willful woman whose newborn baby is kidnapped by her own brother, Félix, who plans to become sole heir to the family’s fortune. Bruno is an honest man who, during the same night, loses his wife and son in childbirth and miraculously finds Paloma’s child in a dumpster. Destiny will unite their lives in a plot of secrets, revelations, and disputes, with the unpredictable consequences of lives based on a dangerous and surprising network of lies.

The story of a mother and daughter with opposing views on the path to success in life takes the audience on a contemporary journey about character, ethics and honesty.

Is it possible that in a world ruled by appearance, there is room for loyalty, ethics, true love, honesty and solidarity? Is it possible, today, when unrelenting consumption is a way of life, to find someone who equates more value to being rather than having? Cobras & Lagartos is an urban tragic comedy, modern and humanist, that deals with two increasingly different worlds: one which values loyalty and solidarity and the other, where the seduction of superfluity and the power of money reign.

Fernanda and Vivi are identical, but from different worlds. A cruel plan swaps their identities and transforms their lives into a game of lies and ambition.

A spoiled feminist, daughter of a rich father, even though she doesn't admit it, falls in love with a rustic farmer whom she marries.

Livia and Felipe are in a forbidden love story doomed to end tragically. A century later, they both have a new chance to make their love real again. “Time After Time” is an innovative romance set in two different eras in which characters hold the opportunity to make up for their mistakes, come to terms with the past and write themselves another story.

A Padroeira was a Brazilian soap opera produced and displayed at the time of 18 hours by Rede Globo, between June 18, 2001 and February 23, 2002, and presented in 215 chapters. It was written by Walcyr Carrasco collaboration with Duca Rachid and directed by Walter Avancini, and had Deborah Secco, Luigi Baricelli, Elizabeth Savalla and Maurício Mattar in leading roles.

Amor Eterno Amor is a Brazilian telenovela produced by Rede Globo and exhibited in the schedule of 18 hours. Written by Elizabeth Jhin and directed by Roberta Richards, Fábio Strazzer, Luciana Oliveira Paulo Ghelli, Pedro Vasconcelos and Rogério Gomes, it was released on March 5, 2012, ending on September, 7 of the same year, replacing A Vida da Gente.

Carlão is an honest but hot-tempered taxi driver who discovers a suitcase containing two million reais in his car, the proceeds of a bank robbery. This is the second version of the telenovela, originally aired in 1975.

Paleontologist Júlia wants to convince the stubborn farmer Abner to let her excavate on his land. The site is said to be an archaeological site containing the remains of prehistoric animals.

Alice is an independent woman, raised in a Japanese family; Mario is an immature guy of Italian origins. Two childhood friends from very distinct families, bond together by a complicity which spans generations. When Alice decides to live abroad, Mario begins to see in her more than just a friend. Now he will go out of his way to make this unlikely love story come to life in this romantic comedy tied by friendship.

The story takes place between the 1920s and 1950s in Greater São Paulo. Going through historical moments, such as the Week of Modern Art, the Revolution of 1924, the economic crisis of 1929 and the Vargas Era, there is the story of Yolanda Penteado, a young woman from a traditional family of São Paulo's high society, who arouses admirations to go through. She had never been easily involved with any other admirer until she meets Martim, a young medical student who catches her eye. However, he was an advocate of the anarchist movement, causing disapproval of Yolanda's mother, Guiomar, but the two will fight to get together, even with the disapproval of the family.

Juscelino Kubitschek was born in Diamantina. Rising from a humble childhood to become a respected physician, he married Sarah and began the journey that would lead him to the presidency of Brazil.

When the men go to war, the women also battle. This tale takes place in the XIX century, during a terrible civil war. Italy’s revolutionary leader Garibaldi must choose between two loves: a sweet aristocratic lady or a brave woman who leaves her husband to accompany him into battle. This super-production recounts the saga of women who do not go to war but must bear pain, solitude and new passions while their husbands and fathers fight the battles.

After 20 years missing, João Grilo returns to Taperoá to join his old friend Chicó and, after his story of resurrection spreads, he is disputed as an electoral candidate by the two most powerful politicians in the city. The four-chapter miniseries original version of O Auto da Compadecida 2.

A hundred years after Europeans set foot in the New World, Brazil still remains largely unexplored. The Conquest recounts the saga of the earliest adventurers who wandered through these unknown lands. Jesuit priests, adventurers seeking gold, slaves and indigenous tribes were entangled in unceasing battles, at a time when laws were made by the sharp edge of a sword.

The (mis)adventures of João Grilo and Chicó in Brazil's Northeastern region. The four-chapter miniseries original version of O Auto da Compadecida.