The Soul of Things

Maria is one of the many women who were born without knowing their place. She tries to move between the mansion where she lives with her husband and a third-class hotel, her refuge. Things are piling up, trapping her in a certain deadline to take a decision. Leaving or staying?

Half a century ago, Brazilian composer and musician Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim (1927-1994) introduced bossa nova to a worldwide audience with "The Girl from Ipanema." This relaxed, cool, sensuous music blended jazz and samba. After recording an album of songs by his friend Jobim, Frank Sinatra is reported to have said, "I haven't sung so quietly since I had laryngitis." Naturally, "The Girl from Ipanema" and Frank Sinatra are featured in this musical collage of countless seamlessly edited excerpts of concert footage that cover decades of events all over the world: from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, Paris, Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Montreal, New York and back to Rio.

Urban legends, memories of a family and where they live. A story about wolves, snakes and pigs in a favela complex.

Tunico is the most famous “Pirate Parrot” of Rio de Janeiro and is always chasing reporters to appear on TV. After a serious accident at an amusement park, Tunico meets Beto, a mysterious young man who becomes his apprentice. This encounter will reveal the dark side of the relentless pursuit of fame at any cost, in a Brazil with more than 70 million televisions turned on every day.

Gatto and Barbot are lifelong companions for more then 40 years and have just moved to a big decayed and abandoned building downtown Rio de Janeiro, where they start to live and promote their dance company rehearsals. The difficulties of everyday life are merged to artistic creation and to their belief in the Orishas gods. Through dance they spread through the city, occupying their territories.

The Ok Club - the oldest gay social club in Latin America - celebrates its 53rd birthday.

A solitude of 800 square meters, in which the mirror is no longer enough. Plastic artist Darel Valença Lins discovers in video art an inseparable companion. Darel, however, does not like to make movies.

Silvana is a tired woman. The world no longer belongs to her, the invisible bothers her, the daily life oppresses her. What she wants sometimes is to abandon everything and go back home.

A voyeuristic journey through the homoerotic work of Alair Gomes.

Rafael lives with his grandmother in Copacabana. After some incidents he sees the world from a new perspective.

She is here, she is there, and the invisible are the others

A young man and his grandmother, both descendants of Armenian refugees in Brazil from the genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government, live together in an apartment on Copacabana beach decorated by the increasingly distant memories of their ancestors. They then decide that one of them must embark to Europe to retrace their family's history.

Brendo wants to be president of Brazil. Until that day, he studies law, makes videos for the networks, dreams of new achievements and imagines himself in a reality show during the pandemic.

In 2024, Madonna performed the biggest show of her career in Rio de Janeiro. The sands of Copacabana welcomed 1.6 million people. This film shows how the city prepared for the event and how fans were impacted, eagerly waiting for May 4 and recalling the causes the singer has championed throughout her life.

Workers on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro are experiencing moments of transformation in their routines. An instant of dreams, fantasy and escape from reality as a counterpoint to the sameness of everyday life.