Indie Brazil 2011 in Hollywood

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 00:40

Written by L E Shannon

The 3rd Annual Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival (HBR FEST) takes place June 1 - 4, 2011 at the Egyptian Theatre and Mann Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood, California. The Festival is dedicated to bringing independent vision and voices from Brazil to Los Angeles audiences.

All films are Los Angeles premieres. This year’s selection represents the newest crop of filmmaking flourishing in Brazil. Many of the films presented have screened at international film festivals, winning awards and receiving critical acclaim.

The Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the cultural and commercial exchange between Hollywood and Brazil. The HBR FEST mission is to create a bridge between the international film community and Brazil, while raising public awareness for the Brazilian culture, as well as production and financing opportunities for international productions shooting in Brazil.

The Opening Night Film is Riscado / Craft, directed by Gustavo Pizzi starring Karine Teles, who co-wrote the script with Pizzi. Teles gives a tour-de-force performance as a talented actress who struggles through life with small, humiliating jobs to make ends meet, until she gets what may be her big break. Pizzi and Teles will be in attendance.

The Closing Night Film Is Rosa Morena, directed by Ivan Teixeira. A 40-something a single gay man desperately wants to be a father, but he cannot legally adopt a child in Denmark. So, he decides to visit an old friend in Brazil, where there is a thriving black market for adoption. Maria is beautiful, charming and pregnant, yet she is too poor to support her unborn child. The plan is simple: Thomas will pay Maria and bring her baby back to Denmark as his own. But naturally, complications ensue.

Other films include:

A Fuga Da Mulher Gorila / The Escape of the Gorilla Woman
dir. Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande
starring Flora Dias, Morena Catonni, Alberto Moura Jr.
Two sisters decide to embark on a journey through the state of Rio de Janeiro in an old kombi van. Along the way, they offer a lift to an actor who also wants to visit the state, and together the trio decides to organize a spectacular show in which one of them transforms into a gorilla and threatens the audience.

A Alegria / The Joy
dir. Felipe Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande
starring Tainá Medina, Junior Moura, Cesar Cardadeiro, Flora Dias, Rikle Miranda
The film follows 16-year-old Luiza, who is tired of hearing about the end of the world. On Christmas Eve, her cousin João disappears in the middle of the night and is shot in a poor neighborhood. A few weeks later, Luiza finds João, as a ghost, in her living room.

Chantal Akerman De Cá / Chantal Akerman from Here
dir. Gustavo Beck, Leonardo Luiz Ferreira
This documentary features an uncut interview with the prestigious Belgian director as Akerman reflects on her own work and method. She shares the influence of directors such as Jonas Mekas and Michael Snow, her relation with Proust’s novel (which she adapted in La Captive in 2000), and her failed attempt to venture into a more commercial filmmaking.

Estrada Para Ythaca / Road to Ythaca
dir. Guto Parente, Luiz Pretti, Pedro Diógenes, Ricardo Pretti
starring the four directors
This road movie focuses on four friends, played by the four directors, who have recently lost a friend. After a night of heavy drinking, they decide to travel to the mythical Ythaca. They don’t seem to be looking for a real place, but rather for something that has been with them since the beginning of the film: the sprit of friendship.

Por El Camino / Beyond the Road
dir. Charly Braun
A 30-year-old Argentinean travels to Uruguay in search of a piece of land that he inherited from his parents. On his arrival in Montevideo, by chance he meets a young Belgian who came to Uruguay in search of an old love. He offers her a ride, and on the way they realize that they are developing feelings for each other.

Reflexões De Um Liquidificador / Reflections of a Blender
dir. André Klotzel
A hilarious dark comedy about a woman and her talking blender as she searches for her missing husband. The blender narrates the story, weaving between the current investigation and flashbacks of Elvira with her husband. Suddenly they work together to solve the case and find out what really happened to her husband.

Bollywood Dream
dir. Beatriz Seigner (directorial debut)
Three Brazilian women are hoping to make it in Bollywood. But it does not start out well. Their producer doesn’t meet them and their hotel reservations are missing. Forced to fend for themselves, they find a teenage promoter whose lying and choreography skills give them the chance they were hoping for.

Seminars include:

• Film Finance – Topics include international film finance, establishing film funds, securing credit for film production.
• Marketing and Distribution – How to market and secure worldwide distribution.
• Talent Seminars – HBFF will promote Film Project and Script labs to expand the cultural exchange and create world class projects for Brazilian films.
• Technical Seminars – Seminars discuss other technical areas, such as CGI Effects, Film Crew Work, etc.
• Post Production & Labs – HBR Fest will promote the exchange of contact and technical information for post production, including lab visits and technical orientation.
• Film Student Seminars – Top film schools in Hollywood and vicinity will meet film students from Brazil for networking and cultural exchange.

 All screenings are FREE and open to the public, other than Opening and Closing night films.

For more information, visit www.hbrfest.com.

Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival
June 1 - 4, 2011

Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California
323-466-3456

Mann Chinese 6 Theaters
6801 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California

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