A Symphony for a Common Man

A Symphony for a Common Man 2022

1

As head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Brazilian diplomat José Bustani became an obstacle in America’s march to war with Iraq. Ousted from his position, he now revisits the chilling events that marked a turning point in global power structures.

2022

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die 2020

7.00

Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last wish: to be the protagonist of his own death.

2020

Maria: Ninguém Sabe Quem Sou Eu

Maria: Ninguém Sabe Quem Sou Eu 2022

7.00

The film is an unprecedented and exclusive testimonial of Maria Bethânia from director and screenwriter Carlos Jardim, interspersed with rare footage of rehearsals and concerts by the singer throughout her 57-year career. Actress Fernanda Montenegro narrates five texts by authors such as Ferreira Gullar and Caio Fernando Abreu about Bethânia's importance on the Brazilian cultural scene.

2022

Virgínia e Adelaide

Virgínia e Adelaide 2025

7.00

Adelaide and Virgínia met in 1937, a year after the German arrived in Brazil, fleeing the Nazi persecution of the Jews, where she came with her husband and two daughters. Together, they founded and popularized psychoanalysis in Brazil, breaking down barriers and prejudices. They were doctor and patient for 5 years, colleagues for more than 30 years, great friends their entire lives.

2025

Zimba

Zimba 2021

5.00

The trajectory and artistic imagery of actor and director Zbigniew Ziembinski (1908-1978), precursor of modern theater in Latin America and master of generations of Brazilian actors. The polyphonic montage builds on vast unpublished material, covering half a century of performances, teletheaters and interviews by Zimba, as he was known – before and after fleeing Poland, on the eve of the invasion of Warsaw – and recreates fragments of Wedding Dress , a play by Nelson Rodrigues which the Polish-Brazilian director won a revolutionary montage in 1943.

2021

Chacrinha: Eu Vim para Confundir e Não para Explicar

Chacrinha: Eu Vim para Confundir e Não para Explicar 2021

6.00

Chacrinha's legacy on TV and excerpts from his personal life are revealed through testimonials and archive images, which tell the story behind the cameras, the behind the scenes that consolidated a new way of communicating Brazil and the facets of a man who is one of the most interesting contemporary characters on the national cultural scene.

2021

Andança: Os Encontros e as Memórias de Beth Carvalho

Andança: Os Encontros e as Memórias de Beth Carvalho 2022

8.10

A documentary on the career of Beth Carvalho, the Brazilian singer who became a well known samba legend from the 1970s onwards, edited together from hundreds of hours of footage and audio files kept (and partially recorded) by Carvalho herself during her lifetime.

2022

Fevereiros

Fevereiros 2019

7.40

A record on Brazilian samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira's victory on the 2016 carnaval parade. Mangueira's parade that year was a homage to singer Maria Bethânia. The documentary also follows Bethânia on the celebrations of Our Lady of Purification, in Bahia, northeast of Brazil.

2019

Vidas Descartáveis

Vidas Descartáveis 2019

1

It addresses the theme of modern slave labor in Brazil - the last country to abolish slavery - under its various facets (social, economic, political, etc.). The documentary sheds light on the practices of enticement and trafficking in human beings and exposes the precarious working conditions in the countryside and in the city resulting from the migratory dynamics driven by false promises of life improvement. Slave-like work, although illegal, now generates billions of $ 150 billion annually in the world, losing only to that of trafficking in drugs and arms, and is three times more profitable than in the period of legal traffic .

2019

Sieged: The Press vs. Denialism

Sieged: The Press vs. Denialism 2020

8.00

Behind the scenes of news coverage during the pandemic. Follow the work of the professional press in a fight against denialism.

2020

Othelo The Great

Othelo The Great 2024

1

A beautifully told story using archival footage to explore the life of Grande Otelo, a groundbreaking Black Brazilian actor. Overcoming poverty and racism, he built a stellar career, facing controversy yet using it to challenge prejudice.

2024

My Darling Supermarket

My Darling Supermarket 2019

6.30

Between repetitive actions such as stocking shelves and scanning groceries, anonymous Brazilian supermarket employees reflect frankly on their lives, society, and the role they dream of playing in it.

2019

Morcego Negro

Morcego Negro 2023

1

A biography of Paulo César Farias, better known as PC Farias. PC was treasurer of former President Fernando Collor de Mello and was directly involved in the process that culminated in Collor's impeachment, deeply shaking the recently restored Brazilian democracy. The film features the participation of dozens of people who knew and lived with Farias, abundant documentation and exclusive archive material, which reveals the intricacies of Brazilian politics, focusing especially on the relationships between capital, ideology, power and organized crime.

2023

Pagliacci

Pagliacci 2018

1

The documentary “Pagliacci” celebrates – in a poetic way – what it means to be a clown. The film addresses philosophical and symbolic questions about man’s need to laugh at himself. In a sensorial and emotional mix, the film starts from what is most human and true: laughter.

2018

Mussum: Um Filme do Cacildis

Mussum: Um Filme do Cacildis 2019

7.20

The trajectory of musician and comedian Mussum as vocalist of the group "Os Originais do Samba" and later in cinema and TV as a member of "Os Trapalhões", a group that revolutionized the way of making humor on Brazilian television.

2019

Rio do Medo

Rio do Medo 2018

1

The documentary seeks to understand, through its characters’ testimonies and meaningful events, how Rio de Janeiro’s military police became a demoralized, violent and corrupt institution. Without denying the police’s importance, but aware of the difference between restraint and police brutality, the movie will relive the biggest events from the last decades in which those who tried to bring the military police closer to the law collided with those who transformed it into a feared symbol of urban violence.

2018

Visita, Presidente

Visita, Presidente 2022

1

The 580 days that president-elect Lula, from Workers Party, spent in prison are the subject of the documentary "Visita, Presidente". The feature brings together unpublished stories of figures who were beside him in prison.

2022