Spring is the
season of film festivals in France, and one of the highlights is the
always-stimulating Brazilian Film Festival of Paris, with its special guests,
music features and topical issues.
Spectators can
enjoy some of the movies in which he has appeared and one of the films he has
directed - Na Boca do Mundo (In the Mouth of the World) - as well
as a documentary on his life and work, helmed by Beto Brant and Pitanga’s
daughter Camila, a well-known actress in Brazil.
“The most
important element this year is our tribute to Pitanga,” says Katia Adler,
founder and director of the film festival. “He has participated in more than 80
films, from Cinema Novo to now, and is an icon of Brazilian filmmaking.”
As honoured
guest, Pitanga will be present on opening night for the showing of Nas Ondas
de Dorival Caymmi (In the Waves of Dorival Caymmi), a documentary
directed by Locca Faria about the famous composer, singer and musician, who
blended elements of Bahian culture, samba and bossa nova.
Caymmi, who
died in 2008 aged 94, composed some 100 songs over the 70 years he was
musically active and is considered among the creators of the bossa nova
movement.
Through the recollections of fellow artists, journalists, family members and friends, the documentary portrays his origins in Salvador, Bahia, the sources of his inspiration in the region, and his collaborations with other musicians and singers such as João Gilberto, Carmen Miranda and Chico Buarque. Caymmi also co-wrote songs with Brazilian author Jorge Amado, with whom he maintained a long friendship.
A filmmaker
herself, Adler began distributing Brazilian films in 1998 “as a way to show a
different picture and to help filmmakers at a time when culture was being
pushed to the side-lines,” she has told SWAN. She launched the festival
that same year, and films about music have been a mainstay since, with the
spotlight in 2022 focused on pioneering musicians, for instance. (This came
after difficulties in mounting the festival during the Covid-19 pandemic. See: https://southernworldartsnews.blogspot.com/2022/03/)
Along with the
melodies, the wide-ranging programme has always included thought-provoking
features and documentaries. This year, another standout in the lineup is Crowrã
(The Buriti Flower), by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora, a film
that follows the indigenous Krahô people in the Brazilian forest during
different time periods of their history.
Previously screened
at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the “Un Certain Regard” category, the
documentary is told from the perspective of its subjects, including Ilda Patpro
Krahô, one of the screenwriters and an activist for her community. Reviewers
have given the documentary high marks, with British film magazine Screen
International writing that it “immerses us in the lives of a people
constantly facing threats to their existence”.
In addition to
the issues faced by indigenous peoples, the festival is screening films that
address gender topics and a range of other subjects, including democracy. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état which launched a two-decades-long military dictatorship, and several films focus on this period and its legacy.
Spectators will
get to discuss some of these themes with the filmmakers present (Pitanga and others) and will
equally have the chance to attend concerts by Brazilian artists – an integral
component of the festival over the years.
Being emotionally moved is “guaranteed”, Adler promises.
Photos / posters of the films provided courtesy of the Brazilian Film Festival of Paris.
More info: Festival du cinéma brésilien de Paris 26 - Festival - Jangada
