Abá

A look at the Brazilian black movement between 1977 and 1988, going by the relationship between Brazil and Africa.

Experimental documentary about the life and work of obscure samba musician Vassourinha (1923-1942), born in São Paulo, who only recorded six 78rpm records, dying at 19.

Person is a documentary about the life and work of filmmaker Luiz Sérgio Person. The documentary brings the reconstruction of the history of the São Paulo filmmaker through the personal journey of his daughter, Marina. Through interviews with friends, family, and people who worked with Person, she seeks to discover more than dates and biographical data.

A portrait of Brazilian actress Vera Valdez, tracing her years as a model for Dior and, most notably, Coco Chanel; her flirtation with the French New Wave; her complex journey through motherhood; and her imprisonment and torture during Brazil’s military dictatorship.

Five friends meet for lunch. Nothing could be more mundane, but for some reason, no one stayed for dessert.

Two tales of migration. In the first, after a tailings dam disaster floods her hometown, rural worker Joana (55) moves to São Paulo to find her sister Tania, who lives with her grandson Jaime. Joana enters the universe of insecurity, replying to an application for house cleaning. She bonds with her colleagues, and their struggle for better conditions gives Joana’s life a new meaning. Her relationship with young Jaime brings back old memories. In the second part, after the death of her estranged father, Flavia (32) moves to her farm with her wife Mara. The couple suffer a shock of reality when facing the harshness of rural life. The contact with the abandoned house reveals to Flavia unknown aspects of her father. She begins to suspect that there is something supernatural in the woods.

A dialogue between the auteur's memories and the images he shot and kept during his long film career - sketches of live that were never shown, never seen, never edited.

Just released from prison, Léa returns home to the Brasilia favela of Sol Nascente and joins up with her half-sister Chitara, the fearless leader of an all-female gang that steals and refines oil from underground pipes and sells gasoline to a clandestine network of motorcyclists. Living in constant opposition to Jair Bolsonaro’s fiercely authoritarian and militarized government, Chitara’s women claim the streets for themselves as a declaration of radical political resistance on behalf of ex-cons and the oppressed.

Aurélia is a young black woman who works at a factory and lives in a working-class neighborhood in São Paulo, whose boyfriend Fábio gets involved with a racist neo-nazi group.

At 80 years old, Chiara, an immigrant woman, single mother, and independent soul, sees her world collapse with the sale of the restaurant she built while pursuing the dream of a better life for her daughter. Between memories and losses, she rediscovers her strength, her autonomy, and the freedom to start over, proving that it is never too late to choose herself.

Transposition of Arrigo Barnabé's song "Clara Crocodilo" to film, with cartoon visuals. Clara Crocodilo is considered to be the public enemy #1, and he's waiting his execution at a state penitentiary. Meanwhile, the Radio Interferência eloquently narrates his story. Some strange characters come forth and even some voodoo rituals are performed to help the anti-hero. He manages to escape and disappears in the dark alleys of the city.

Silmara, an industrial worker and a woman of exuberant beauty, supports her arsonist father and gets involved with two different pop stars, from whom she learns traumatic life lessons.

On a same night, five people from a small country town have the same nightmare. Upon the arrival of a pilgrim, the village is taken off its mediocre routine and the characters are thrown on the vortex of an uncommon situation. Each one’s truth will come to light, releasing them of the wicked hypocrisies, fears and diseases, compelling them to take control of their fate and rewrite their life.

With her radical voice, visceral improvisation, and unmistakable rasp, Elza Soares created a language all her own and crossed generations, continually reinventing herself as one of Brazil’s greatest artists. In the documentary that bears her name, Elza narrates her own story, weaving together a diary of memories, desires, and reflections through music, in dialogue with historic Brazilian films. Through Elza and her nearly century-long life, the film offers an X-ray of a country in turmoil.

Dadinho, an old samba composer, is taken by his granddaughter to his brother’s funeral, composer from a rival samba school. Along this path a history of rivalry, samba and betrayal emerges from the past.

An existential profile of primitivist painter Ana Moisés in her atelier in Embu, on the outskirts of São Paulo.