São Paulo – Notre Dame University, in Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon, will start including Brazilian films in its cinema sessions, starting this week. The sessions take place on Mondays t 7:00 pm, and the first Brazilian production to be screened is Central do Brasil (Central Station), directed by Walter Salles, on April 23rd.
The action is an initiative of the University’s Public Relations director, Edgar Merheb-Harb. The cinema sessions will take place at the University’s Film Society. The screening of Central Station will be attended by the Brazilian consul general to Beirut, Renato Menezes, and a group of de diplomats.
Central Station tells the story of Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), a woman who writes letters for illiterate people at the main train station in Rio de Janeiro. One of Dora’s customers is Ana, who shows up asking for a letter alongside her nine-year old son, Josué, who dreams of meeting his father for the first time. On leaving the station, Ana is run over and Josué is left to fend for himself. Despite not wanting to, Dora stays with the boy, and takes him to the hinterlands of Northeast Brazil to look for his father.
The film garnered more than 40 awards, including the Golden Bear for best film and the Silver Bear for best actress at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival, and the Golden Globe for best foreign language film in 1999. The production was also shortlisted as one of five runner-ups for the Oscar as best foreign film, and Fernanda Montenegro was nominated for best actress.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
