While I was wandering around Covent Garden one afternoon, my friend asked me to pick up Evening Standard for him. When I was looking for it next to the tube station, I also picked up Covent Garden newspaper, where I read about the upcoming London Brazylian Film Festival. Some would say that I heard of it by chance, but I am sure that I would find out about it sooner or later- I visited Brazil last year and since then I have been fascinated by Brazilian culture. Right after finding out about the festival I booked the tickets for the opening night and also took part in the competition in which I won a pass for all of the festival films!
Brazilian Film Festival has taken place for 15 years, all around the world, in cities such as London, Madrid, Barcelona or New York. 3rd edition of the festival in London promoted contemporary Brazilian cinema abroad. Apart from that, the festival also included Crystal Lens Award ceremony for the Best Feature Film chosen by the audience.
The opening ceremony took place at BAFTA (British Academy Film and Television Arts) on the 6th of September. Together with my friends we first joined a drink reception, which was also attended by stars such as Rolling Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood. After the drink reception all the guests joined the screening of Claudio Torres’ film Man from the Future, which had its premiere in Brazil the same week. Film was about a lonely scientist who traveled in time into his past and tried to fix the mistake of his youth, which as he believed, was the reason for his unhappy life. This however complicated and confused his life even more. Funny and light comedy shows that perhaps it is better to leave things as they are and face the problems in our lives because they are and will always be a part of everyone’s existence.
Between 7th and 10th of September 2011 Odeon Covent Garden hosted screenings of ten feature films and nine shorts Brazilian films. Very much impressed by the Brazilian film City of God, I wanted to discover something more about the Brazilian culture and cinema. I managed to see Beyond the Road by Charly Braun, a Brazylian and Uruguayan production, which was about the Argentinian boy and Belgian girl travelling together through beautiful landscapes in Uruguay and meeting people who seemed to be lost in time. Another film which I saw- Boca do Lixo by Flavio Frederico was set in Sao Paulo in 1950s and touched upon recurring themes in well-known Brazilian films: street gangs, drugs and prostitution. It is nevertheless the last film which I saw, The supreme Happiness (A suprema Felicidade) by Arnaldo Jabor, which will stay in my mind for a long time. It is the story of a middle class family in Rio de Janeiro in late 1950s, looking for happiness which also uncovered an amazing friendship between teenage Paulo and his grandfather.
The audience at Odean Covent Garden was a mix of locals, Brazilians living abroad and tourists. The festival presented a set of inspiring and moving films and made me more familiar with Brazilian culture and cinema. Brazilian Festival was a great way to promote evolving Brazilian cinema and it surprised me in a very positive way.
For more information see:
http://www.brazilianfilmfestival.com/index.html
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