Isso é Brasil: Cinema According to L.C. Barreto Productions
Film at Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical present “Isso é Brasil: Cinema According to L.C. Barreto Productions,” a 13-film retrospective commemorating 60 years of L.C. Barreto Film Productions, Brazil’s legendary production company, helmed by the renowned family of filmmakers. From September 6 through September 15, the series will celebrate the Barretos’s incomparable influence with a selection of canonical classics and under-seen gems, most of which will premiere in new 4K restorations. Producer Lucy Barreto and director Bruno Barreto—four of his films are in this series—will be in person at FLC to introduce select screenings and take part in Q&As.
When it comes to Brazilian cinema, “there is before the Barretos and after,” said the actress Sônia Braga, whose breakthrough came in the international hit Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976), directed by Bruno Barreto and produced by his parents’ L.C. Barreto Film Productions. Since its founding in 1963 by Luiz Carlos and Lucy Barreto (who are still active in the company), the Rio de Janeiro–based enterprise—which has, in various capacities, involved their children Bruno, Fábio, and Paula—transformed into one of Brazil’s most important film production companies that has championed radically political and experimental works, festival prizewinners, and unabashed crowd-pleasers alike.
Whether producing, directing, writing, or actually shooting movies, the Barretos have captivated audiences for over half a century with more than 150 films in their catalog, and helped Brazilian cinema achieve critical acclaim and popular recognition on an unprecedented scale. Eleven of the 13 films in the series will be presented in 4K restorations.
Organized by Tyler Wilson of Film at Lincoln Center and Mary Jane Marcasiano of Cinema Tropical, presented in collaboration with Instituto Guimarães Rosa/Consulate General of Brazil in New York.
Tuesday, September 10
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Wednesday, September 11
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Thursday, September 12
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Friday, September 13
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Saturday, September 14
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Sunday, September 15
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Walter Reade Theater
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
4K Restoration
Bruno Barreto was 20 years old when he injected new life into Brazilian cinema and announced Sônia Braga to the world with this sensuous comedy-fantasy, based on the brilliant Jorge Amado’s 1966 novel. Co-starring José Wilker (Bye Bye Brazil) and featuring music by Chico Buarque.Barren Lives
4K Restoration
Nelson Pereira dos Santos’s impassioned adaptation of the novel by Graciliano Ramos, which follows an itinerant family traversing a drought-stricken sertão of northeastern Brazil, is considered one of the most important works of Brazilian cinema.Bye Bye Brazil
North American Premiere of 4K Restoration
In one of Cinema Novo godfather Carlos Diegues’s most popular films, a motley crew of traveling performers entertains a wide range of audiences across Brazil’s northwestern Amazonian landscape. Accordionist Ciço (Fábio Júnior) and his wife Dasdô (Zaira Zambelli) join the rollicking caravan, leading to a string of adventures.The Hour and Turn of Augusto Matraga
North American Premiere of 4K Restoration
Roberto Santos’s Cinema Novo western follows the mythical “hero’s journey” of Augusto Matraga (Leonardo Villar), a violent farmer who is betrayed by his wife and nearly killed. After he is rescued by a pair of farmers, Matraga devotes his life to contrition—until the opportunity for revenge arrives.Four Days in September
World Premiere of 4K Restoration
Starring Alan Arkin and Pedro Cardoso, Bruno Barreto’s Oscar-nominated political thriller chronicles the 1969 abduction of the United States Ambassador to Brazil.Amor Bandido
World Premiere of 4K Restoration
A vividly unsettling mixture of sexploitation sleaze and hard-boiled melodrama, Bruno Barreto’s follow-up to Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands centers on a doomed romance set against the backdrop of a wanton killing spree in Rio’s Copacabana.Reaching For the Moon
World Premiere of 4K Restoration
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.Garrincha, the People’s Joy
2K Restoration
Arguably one of the greatest films about soccer, Joaquim Pedro de Andrade’s debut feature is a form-shifting documentary portrait of his country’s beloved bow-legged dribbler Mané Garrincha.Entranced Earth
This Is Pelé
2K Restoration
Luiz Carlos Barreto’s directorial debut—assembled from hundreds of hours of footage with Cinema Novo editor Eduardo Escorel (Entranced Earth, Macunaíma, among many others)—tells the story of the Brazilian team’s first three World Cup wins with the record-breaking footballer as its protagonist.Memoirs of Prison
4K Restoration
Based on Graciliano Ramos’s posthumously published memoirs, this extraordinarily ambitious film from Nelson Pereira dos Santos centers on Ramos (Carlos Vereza) sinking ever deeper into a bizarre nightmare after he is locked up with other political prisoners in Rio de Janeiro and then, eventually, with all stripes of inmates on a remote island.O Quatrilho
2K Restoration
The first Brazilian film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in more than 30 years, Fábio Barreto’s romantic literary melodrama is a complex study of love and ambition at the dawn of the 20th century.The Middle of the World
Presented on 35mm
Set in a pre-Lula Brazil, this road film dramatizes the true story of a man and his family traveling across the country on bikes in search of an elusive job paying 1,000 Brazilian reais. International star Wagner Moura (Elite Squad, Narcos) stars in one of his breakthrough roles.Tickets are $17; $14 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $12 for FLC Members.
See more and save with a $99 All-Access Pass ($79 for Students) and 3+ Film Package ($15 for GP; $12 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $10 for FLC Members).
Complimentary tickets for FLC Members and Patrons are eligible for this series.
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