Cao Guimarães

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.

Through deep examination, this documentary from Oscar nominee Petra Costa explores the profound impact of evangelism on Brazil's political landscape.

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Juvenal is a metro driver from Belo Horizonte. Margô, a station controller. Both live in a state of complete solitude – each in a particular way. Juvenal refuses to be alone and strolls through the streets of this metropolis taking comfort by mingling with the anonimous crowd. Margo seeks relief in the virtual world of social networks where she struggles to establish long lasting relations with real persons.

Brazil, 18th century. The colony of Portugal endures a decline in gold production. A Portuguese minority rules over a corrupt and autocratic society. Joaquim is an efficient soldier, famous for capturing gold smugglers. While waiting for his promotion to Lieutenant, he leaves for a risky mission in search of new gold mines - the only way to buy the freedom of Blackie, a slave he is in love with. Inspired by the true story of Tiradentes, the first leader of the Brazilian revolutionary movement.

Freely inspired by the work Catatau, by Paulo Leminski, the plot begins with the historical hypothesis imagined by the poet from Curitiba: “What if René Descartes had come to Brazil with Maurício de Nassau?” The film materializes this hypothesis and joins the father of modern philosophy in his journey through the tropics. Under the effect of hallucinatory herbs, he investigates questions revolving around geometry and optics in the face of an absolutely strange world. Known for his famous sentence “I think, therefore I am”, Descartes faces his doubt towards phenomena reason doesn’t explain. René, Renatus, Re born.

The story of Santinho, a young man who has been exalted to the position of a saint in a remote riverine community of the upper Amazonas state, after performing a “miracle” upon the suicide of his own mother. The film seeks to be an intimate picture of those who are involved in this sect and of the infinite human capacity of “fabricating” faith and seeking some sense in the horrifying experience of death.

With the world in suspension Dante meets Ava, a woman who offers him her affection to facilitate his crossing over to the other side.

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As a toddler, Hermeto Pascoal made a flute from a pumpkin stalk so he could make music with the birds. His love of the sounds of nature has remained with him throughout his life. They play a major role in the music of the famous Brazilian composer, bandleader, conductor and multi-instrumentalist – known in Brazil as ‘the sorcerer.’

"Fim do Sem Fim" is a feature-length documentary that has as its backdrop the imminent disappearance of certain trades and professions in Brazil. Shot in 10 Brazilian states, the film is a dive into the inventiveness and resistance of men in the face of technological and cultural changes.

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The Tenant follows the trajectory of a soap bubble as it floats through the empty rooms of a house under renovation. The bubble never bursts as it drifts from one room to the next in a permanent state of suspension.

The illusion of an hypnosis emerges from the serenity of a geometrical succession of forms. In this geometrical 'mini-drama' the pathos is created by colors in movement and the languorous and repetitive beat of a piano.

The film gradually reveals the apparently isolated existence of Dominguinhos, a 72-year-old hermit who lives inside a cave that juts off from a rock mountain. The film is composed of long silences in which the hermit executes his daily chores, such as cooking and cleaning, and of images that transcend his territory. Towards the end we discover that silence is commonplace in the hermit’s life, the normal state in which time passes. Speech is the state of exception.

Three lonely drifters follow different paths on the roads of northeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil. A film about the connections between walking and thinking, in which the ever-changing nature of things turns life into a place of mere passing.

One of the greatest pests on the planet, the evil ants destroy the forest to protect their family. Memories of the covid-19 pandemic, eroded by ignorance and negationism. What's left in this great country of worms and viruses?

3’00” | DV | Colour | 2002 | Brazil Screening Format: DV Filming Format: Super 8 Directed, Photographed and edited by: Cao Guimarães Collective of people, streets, neighborhoods, names, of buses that lead people through the streets of neighborhoods named after people.

"Sopro" expresses the relation between what's in and outside. The translucid form of an everchanging bubble shows the world to which it belongs and also that which is contained by it.