São Paulo – The movie “The Second Mother,” by the filmmaker diretora Anna Muylaert, has been chosen by the Embassy of Brazil in Beirut to represent the country in the 6th edition of the Ibero-American Film Festival Otras Miradas (Spanish for “other perspectives”). The festival opens in Beirut next Monday (26th) and will end on November 3rd. The Brazilian feature film will be screened on Saturday (31st).
The festival is held annually by the Embassy of Spain in Beirut and by the Cervantes Institute, in collaboration with the Metropolis association and the embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as the consulates of El Salvador and Portugal. The films are shown at the Metropolis movie theater, whose focus is on alternative, non-mainstream productions.
According to the head of the Cultural sector at the Embassy of Brazil in Beirut, Adam Muniz, the country has been involved in the festival since its inception, and screenings of Brazilian movies are always the ones attracting more viewers. Last year, for instance, the event’s organizers had to produce two copies of “Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho” so they could be shown at once in both of the Metropolis theater’s rooms.
This year, expectations are high, because “Que horas ela volta?” has won prizes at the Sundance Festival, in the United States, and at the Berlin Festival, in Germany. The feature film is being distributed in 20-plus countries and was chosen to be the Brazilian contender for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. The nominees for the Oscars will be announced in January next year.
The film follows the character Val (played by Regina Casé) as she leaves her daughter in Pernambuco to babysit Fabinho (Michel Joelsas), the son to upper-middle class parents in São Paulo. Thirteen years after her departure, her daughter Jéssica (Camila Márdila) travels to São Paulo to apply for college and live with her mother in the house where she works as a maid. The daughter, however, does not share her mother’s submissive attitude towards the homeowners.
“We always participate in this festival, and Brazil always draws in the most viewers. The event is a chance to showcase Brazilian culture and promote the national cultural industry through the music and film industries,” Muniz told ANBA this Friday (23rd). He said the goal of the Brazilian embassy is to always feature recent productions and, since last year, to take the Brazilian entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film to the Ibero-American Festival.
“The Brazilian films we bring to the Festival are usually premiered here, and we intend for them to get into regular rotation. Ours is the only film with Arabic subtitles, so it can also be shown in other countries across the region", Muniz explained. Besides the general public, film producers, critics, and distributors are invited to watch the Brazilian motion pictures.
Muniz also said some of the people who watch the Brazilian productions are Brazilian nationals living in Lebanon, but most are not. “The community is relevant, but many of the viewers are Lebanese; they have a strong connection with Brazil,” he asserted.
Ibero-American Film Festival Otras Miradas
http://www.metropoliscinema.net/2015/otras-miradas-6/
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
