Brazil has announced the selection of Picture of Ghosts / Retratos Fantasmas, the documentary film by director Kleber Mendonça Filho, as the country’s official submission to the Best International competition at the 96th edition of the Academy Awards.
The fifth feature by Mendonça Filho is a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking. Set in the urban landscape of Recife, Brazilian coastal capital of Pernambuco: a historical and human territory, examined through the great movie theaters that served as spaces of conviviality during the 20th century. Having hosted dreams and progress, these places have also embodied a major transformation on social practices. Combining archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories, Picture of Ghosts is a map of a city through the lens of cinema.
Pictures of Ghosts had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May, and it had its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this week, to be followed by its US premiere at the New York Film Festival in a few weeks. The film was recently acquired by Grasshopper Film for North American distribution. This marks the second time that Mendonça Filho represents his country at the Academy Awards after his debut fiction film Neighboring Sounds was selected in 2013.
