Reaching For the Moon
Isso é Brasil: Cinema According to L.C. Barreto Productions
September 6 - 15, 2024
Set in 1950s–60s Rio amid Brazil’s brewing military coup, the turbulent relationship between American poet Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Otto) and architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Glória Pires) offers a unique perspective on this period in Brazil’s history.
Bruno Barreto’s romantic drama, set in the 1950s–60s, follows Pulitzer Prize–winning American poet Elizabeth Bishop and her affair with architect Lota de Macedo Soares, designer of Rio’s Flamengo Park. Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings) portrays Bishop as icy yet vulnerable, while Glória Pires embodies the passionate Lota. The film juxtaposes Bishop’s alcoholism with Lota’s park obsession against the backdrop of Brazil’s brewing military coup. As their relationship unravels and Bishop returns to New York, the film explores the quest for inspiration and is a cautionary tale on relationship dynamics and the art of losing. Marcelo Zarvos’s score draws the audience into the complexity of the main character’s feelings. Iconic Brazilian songs by Humberto Teixeira, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Vinicius de Moraes, along with classics by Irving Berlin and Billie Holiday are featured in the soundtrack. 4K restoration courtesy of L.C. Barreto Produções Cinematográficas.
Bruno Barreto’s Reaching for the Moon is the beautiful result of a filmmaker inspired by the exceptional poetry of distinctly visual writer Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Otto, translucent and captivating).
—Anne-Katrin Titze, Eye For Film
Read More
Kamal Aljafari on With Hasan in Gaza and ‘The Camera of the Dispossessed’
Our 63rd New York Film Festival Talks featured a special conversation with With Hasan in Gaza director Kamal Aljafari, moderated by Film Comment editor Devika Girish.
Lucrecia Martel on Our Land (Nuestra Tierra), the Filmmaker’s First Feature Documentary
On the latest episode of FLC Luminaries, our video series that spotlights talent at all levels of the filmmaking process who uplift the art and craft of cinema, Our Land (Nuestra Tierra) director Lucrecia Martel discusses her expansive and enlightening first feature documentary.
Carla Simón on Her Poignantly Autobiographical Romería
This week we’re excited to present a conversation from the 63rd New York Film Festival with Romería director Carla Simón, moderated by NYFF Main Slate selection committee member Florence Almozini.
