Light in Darkness (Luz nas Trevas), film still, © Promo
VIPs, Foto: Milena Mendes

Nov 16–27, 2011

Première Brasil 2011

Films of the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival

Film festival

Première Brasil takes place for the third time! The top ten of the best new films from Brazil, along with a special feature for and starring Hector Babenco (The Kiss of the Spider Woman), selected by the curator of the festival, Ilda Santiago.

The films are characterized by an acute sense of a society in flux, for people in search of an identity. The opening film is a prime example: VIPs is about a young man who moves seamlessly from one identity to another, from drug courier to worldly businessman. O Abismo Prateado/The Silver Cliff is another case in point: it’s about a successful dentists who is completely torn from her normal existance by a singe telephone call.

Another focus is on the history of dictatorships and resistance movements, whose structures are similar the world over: the documentary film Utopia e Barbárie shows just how close the two are.

And tribute is also paid to television: various screens in the foyer of the Haus show forays into the TV genre by well-known filmmakers such as Karim Ainouz and Sandra Kogut, all embedded in a music lounge.

In cooperation with the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.
Supported by Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations/Brazilian Embassy in Berlin.