São Paulo – The 27th São Paulo International Short Film festival begins this Wednesday (24) in the city of São Paulo, with four films from Arab countries included in its international section. Overall, 400 films will be screened by the festival, divided into four main programs: International, Latin American, Brazilian and Special. The movies will be screened in seven different movie theaters in São Paulo with free admission.
From the Arab world will be shown “9 Days: From My Window in Aleppo”, a Dutch and Syrian production by Floor van der Meulen, Thomas Vroege and issa Touma. The film is a documentary in which Syrian photographer Issa Touma records from his window the first days of the uprising in Aleppo in the current Syrian conflict.
The documentary’s producer, Jos de Putter, will be in Brazil attending the festival and will present the two screenings, one on Thursday (25), at 9:30 pm at CineSesc, and the other on Friday (26), at 3 pm, at Espaço Itaú de Cinema.
Another Arab movie to be screened is Amal, from director Aïda Senna, from Morocco. The short film tells the story of Amal, which is about to get married after being raped and is left with no other way than being silent. A similar theme, but now focusing on child abuse and homosexuality, is addressed by the joint Qatar-Egypt production “More than Two Days”, from director Ahmed Abdelnaser. “What is portrayed is the fact that the person cannot speak”, says Anne Frysman, responsible for the International Film Festival, on what the two productions share with one another. The producer of “More than Two Days”, Amjad Abu Alala, came for the festival and will be in Brazil until September 1.
The short film “Fathy Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” is from Egypt and was directed by Maged Nader. The movie tells the story of a young man stuck in a daily routine who has a change in perspective after buying a shampoo bottle that has an image of Bibi Anderson and Liv Ullman in the Swedish film Persona. Frysman calls the film precious and says that it’s the most classic among the Arab films participating. She underscores, however, that the Arab productions in the festival are very different among themselves.
The films were shortlisted from a pool of entries. The International Program had 2,000 entries and the shortlist comprises films made in 41 countries. According to Frysman, Arab films are always on the list, and there has been a shift in these films lately. Maghreb countries and Egypt have a filmmaking tradition, but she is now seeing productions come in from other countries, like Qatar. “I’ve seen this coming for a few years now; in the past, we’d never get anything from Qatar,” she claims, adding that festivals held throughout the Gulf are encouraging this. “These other countries are coming up with considerable strength,” she says.
The festival will run until September 4 and is directed by Zita Carvalhosa. The organizer is Associação Cultural Kinoforum, with support from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and sponsorship from Petrobras. The short films will be shown at the Museum of Image and Sound (MIS), CineSesc, Cinemateca Brasileira, Espaço Itaú Augusta, Unibes Cultural, Cinusp, Centro Cultural São Paulo, and at the Aricanduva, Butantã, Caminho do Mar, Paz and São Rafael units of the municipal education, art and sports facilities Centros de Artes e Esportes Unificados – CEUs. The central theme will be “O Estado do Mundo.”
The festival does not offer a grand prize or prizes for each category, but some accolades are given, such as the Sesc TV Prize for first-time filmmakers, the Trophy for Best Animation of the Brazilian Animated Film Association (ABCA), etc. The audience also gets to pick ten Brazilian-made favorites, and ten from the International and Latin American programs. Side activities will include an audiovisual installation, debates, and workshops. Click the link below for the full program.
Quick facts:
27th São Paulo International Short Film Festival
August 24 to September 4
At seven venues throughout São Paulo
Find out more: www.kinoforum.org/curtas or www.facebook.com/kinoforum
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani & Gabriel Pomerancblum
