In the Heart of the World by Gabriel Martins and Maurílio Martins
The Cinema Tropical Collection is proud to announce its second slate of selections, featuring the North American digital releases of three Brazilian films that had their U.S. premieres last December as part of the series “Veredas: A Generation of Brazilian Filmmakers,” curated by Mary Jane Marcasiano and Fábio Andrade, presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical.
The three selected films are Adirley Queirós’s acclaimed 2001 debut feature Is the City Only One?, a fiction/documentary hybrid that delves into the lives of people in Ceilândia, the impoverished satellite city of the nation’s capital, Brasília; In the Heart of the World, the sprawling and vivid fictional portrait of a resilient community by Gabriel Martins and Maurílio Martins, which had its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival; and Your Bones and Your Eyes, the subversive and lyrical meditation on love, loss and non-normative sexuality by Caetano Gotardo, whose most recent film All the Dead Ones (co-directed with Marco Dutra) had its world premiere in the official competition at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
These three films are boundary-pushing works of Brazilian cinema, directed by four young directors who are part of an influential generation of filmmakers that, facing adversity in a challenging political climate, is leaving an indelible mark on the local and international film circuit. With their challenging approaches to boundaries of genre, form, class, race, and identity, Cinema Tropical is proud to make these three Brazilian films available digitally to North American audiences for the first time.
Combining the format of a curated online film series with virtual Q&As with the directors, plus VOD distribution, The Cinema Tropical Collection presents U.S. and international audiences with meaningful and relevant Latin American films in their digital premiere. The Brazilian films will be available for streaming on Tropical on Demand starting on Thursday, April 30. Q&As with the featured filmmakers will be announced shortly.
Full Program:
IN THE HEART OF THE WORLD
A film by Gabriel Martins and Maurilio Martins
(No Coração do Mundo, Brazil, 2019, 121 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
“A sprawling feature by Gabriel and Maurílio Martins, In the Heart of the World offers a vivid depiction of a close-knit community in the city of Contagem, where the filmmakers are from. In this multi-character ensemble, the inhabitants of a poor neighborhood yearn for a better life: some get involved in crime, others just try and get by. Using a mix of professional and amateur actors, the directors create a kaleidoscopic, inventively photographed portrait of struggle, hope, and faith.” — Film at Lincoln Center
Premieres Thursday, April 30
IS THE CITY ONLY ONE?
A film by Adirley Queirós
(A Cidade É Uma Só?, Brazil, 2011, 79 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
“The fascinating debut feature from Adirley Queirós (director of White Out, Black In and Once There Was Brasília) is a fiction/documentary hybrid focusing on a satellite city of Brasilia called Ceilândia. This administrative region—its name derived from the acronym CEI (Invasion Eradication Campaign)—was created in the 1970s to remove and relocate the low-income neighborhoods encroaching on the capital. Half a century after the construction of Brasilia, Is the City Only One? reflects on the spatial and social exclusions that have defined the relationship between the federal district, its surroundings, and the people who built the city from nothing.” — Film at Lincoln Center
Premieres Sunday, May 3
YOUR BONES AND YOUR EYES
A film by Caetano Gotardo
(Seus Ossos e Seus Olhos, Brazil, 2019, 118 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
“In Caetano Gotardo’s follow-up to The Moving Creatures, João, a middle-class filmmaker living and working in São Paulo, has extensive conversations with friends and strangers, including best friend Irene, who cannot let go of memories of her ex, or a young man he tries to pick up on the metro. Piece by piece, João’s encounters, discussions, and monologues increasingly inspire him, and he begins to reconsider his attitude toward the world around him. In addition to life and love, the creative process emerges as a recurring theme, recalling the films of Éric Rohmer and Hong Sang-soo.” — Film at Lincoln Center
Premieres Thursday, May 7
