São Paulo –25th of March Street, in downtown São Paulo, is the topic of the film contest “The Arabs and 25th of March Street” (Os árabes e a 25 de Março, in Portuguese), a partnership between the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe). The contestants with short films narrating the history of the street will compete for prizes of up to R$ 15,000 (around US$ 6,780). According to the Arab Chamber’s cultural director, Silvia Antibas, the goal is to retrieve the memory the city’s region, so well-known for São Paulo’s citizens, but with scarcely documented origins.
25th of March Street is named after the day Brazil’s Emperor Dom Pedro I appointed the first Brazilian Constitution, on March 25 1824. The region has been occupied by Arab immigrants, mainly Syrian and Lebanese, since the late 19th century.
Immigrants chose this street to live and work. Besides 25th of March Street, Porto Geral, Comendador Abdo Schahin Street, Senador Queiróz Avenue and Barão de Duprat Street, as well as other addresses downtown, were occupied by Arab immigrants.
Many of the businesses nowadays are run by children and grandchildren of those immigrants. The date of March 25th has also been chosen to represent symbolically the arrival of the Arab immigrants to Brazil. Currently, the street and nearby areas are a bustling trade center.
“We must preserve the memory of 25th of March Street. There is not much in books, few photographs and there are no films. Today the area is known for being a trade center, but the memory is getting lost. This is about recovering the history of our heritage”, said Antibas.
Film directors, students and cinephiles will be eligible. Each contestant may submit up to two works, with a maximum duration of 15 minutes each. Genre is free: submissions may be documentaries, fictional pieces, and even animations. The pieces will be judged on the basis of innovative use of film language and contribution to the subject at hand. According to Antibas, the filmmakers may make interviews and seek out footage from the Arab merchants who work at 25th of March Street.
Registration
All films are to be registered on the contest’s website, which is scheduled to go online next Friday (30th). The deadline for registration is July 30th. On visiting the contest website, applicants will be directed to another address where the film is to be uploaded. Afterwards, they must follow the steps on the website in order to submit their details to email address cinema@icarabe.org.br and confirm the registration.
On August 19th, the panel of judges will shortlist the six best films. The shortlisted pieces will feature in the 9th Arab World Film Festival, due in São Paulo from August 13th to September 14th. During the period, six films will be shown and the audience will pick their favourites.
The winning films will be announced on September 15th. The Official Jury Prize winner will receive R$ 15,000 (US$ 6,781 at current exchange rates). The audience favourite is getting R$ 10,000 (US$ 4,521) and the winner of the Young Filmmakers Prize will be paid R$ 6,000 (US$ 2,712). Contestants under 18 may apply for this category. The jury will select the six finalists and the winners of the Official Prize and Young Filmmakers categories will be composed of the cultural directors of the Arab Chamber, Silvia Antibas, and the Icarabe’s, Geraldo Adriano Godoy de Campos, plus the filmmakers Amir Labaki, José Sadek and Otávio Constantino. The films will later become a part of a collection housed at the Arab Chamber offices and the Icarabe.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça and Gabriel Pomerancblum