Bernard Attal's debut feature film A coleção invisível / The Invisible Collection (pictured) was the winner of the Crystal Lens Award as most popular film of the 12th edition of the Brazilian Film Festival. The winner of the Crystal Lens Award for short film went to Guilherme Aguilar and Luis Ferraz's Tempo da navalha / Razor's Age. The winners were announced at the closing night ceremony that took place last night at Central Park's Summerstage which featured a live concert by acclaimed Brazilian musician Toquino.
Adapted from a short short story by Stefan Zweig that originally takes place in Germany during the Weimar Republic, The Invisible Colletion tells the story of Beto, who divides his time between partying and working jobs without prospects. After the death of his friends in a car accident, he returns to the financially precarious family business. To solve the financial bind of the antique shop, Beto travels to the Brazilian countryside in search of a collection of rare drawings. There he meets Samir, a collector, and his family that were ruined by the demise of the cacao plantations. The journey and encounter will irrevocably change the young man's soul.
French-born Attal has been living and working in Brazil since 2005. He studied filmmaking at the New School in New York and directed the short films 29 Inches, Rat Island, and A Bike Ride, which participated in numerous festivals around the world, including Clermont Ferrand and Palm Springs. In 2010, he made the film The Magnificent, a documentary for Brazilian public TV about the rise and decadence of three families of cocoa planters.
The 12th edition of the Brazilian Film Festival of New York took place June 1-7 at the Tribeca Cinemas.
