Kleber Mendonça Filho followed his epic Bacurau with a lower-key reflection on his personal cinematic life. A hit at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Pictures of Ghosts distills a lifetime of the Brazilian’s cinephilia through archival documentary, mystery, film clips, and personal memories to bring back to life downtown Recife’s classic movie palaces from the 20th century, many of which are mostly gone. Ahead of Grasshopper Film’s January 26 release, there’s a new trailer.
As David Katz said in his review, “If the death of cinema is imminent, at least Kleber Mendonça Filho can play it out with some vintage Tropicália. It’s becoming a nice leitmotif of the Brazilian director’s career, whose ultraviolent Bacurau curtain-raised with Gal Costa’s ‘Não Identificado,’ and latest effort Pictures of Ghosts, which premiered as a Special Screening at Cannes, eases in with Tom Zé’s deceptively jaunty ‘Happy End.
As David Katz said in his review, “If the death of cinema is imminent, at least Kleber Mendonça Filho can play it out with some vintage Tropicália. It’s becoming a nice leitmotif of the Brazilian director’s career, whose ultraviolent Bacurau curtain-raised with Gal Costa’s ‘Não Identificado,’ and latest effort Pictures of Ghosts, which premiered as a Special Screening at Cannes, eases in with Tom Zé’s deceptively jaunty ‘Happy End.
- 1/16/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2023, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2024. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 30 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year that either have confirmed 2024 release dates or await a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful of films seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months, as can be seen here.
As an additional note, a number of 2023 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2023, including Origin (Jan. 19), Tótem (Jan. 26), Perfect Days (Feb. 7), The Taste of Things (Feb. 9), About Dry Grasses (Feb. 23), Shayda (March 1), La Chimera (March 29), and Robot Dreams.
The Settlers (Felipe Gálvez; Jan. 12)
The barbaric, bloody sins of the past come to define what entities govern certain land today,...
As an additional note, a number of 2023 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2023, including Origin (Jan. 19), Tótem (Jan. 26), Perfect Days (Feb. 7), The Taste of Things (Feb. 9), About Dry Grasses (Feb. 23), Shayda (March 1), La Chimera (March 29), and Robot Dreams.
The Settlers (Felipe Gálvez; Jan. 12)
The barbaric, bloody sins of the past come to define what entities govern certain land today,...
- 1/3/2024
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Following his epic Bacurau, Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho returned to Cannes Film Festival this year with Pictures of Ghosts, a bittersweet, fascinating look at his personal cinematic life. Utilizing archive documentary, mystery, film clips, and personal memories to bring back to life downtown Recife’s classic movie palaces from the 20th century, many of which are mostly gone, the film will stop by TIFF and NYFF followed by a release from Grasshopper Film and now the first trailer has arrived.
David Katz said in his review, “If the death of cinema is imminent, at least Kleber Mendonça Filho can play it out with some vintage Tropicália. It’s becoming a nice leitmotif of the Brazilian director’s career, whose ultraviolent Bacurau curtain-raised with Gal Costa’s “Não Identificado,” and latest effort Pictures of Ghosts, which premiered as a Special Screening at Cannes, eases in with Tom Zé’s deceptively jaunty “Happy End.
David Katz said in his review, “If the death of cinema is imminent, at least Kleber Mendonça Filho can play it out with some vintage Tropicália. It’s becoming a nice leitmotif of the Brazilian director’s career, whose ultraviolent Bacurau curtain-raised with Gal Costa’s “Não Identificado,” and latest effort Pictures of Ghosts, which premiered as a Special Screening at Cannes, eases in with Tom Zé’s deceptively jaunty “Happy End.
- 8/22/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
If the death of cinema is imminent, at least Kleber Mendonça Filho can play it out with some vintage Tropicália. It’s becoming a nice leitmotif of the Brazilian director’s career, whose ultraviolent Bacurau curtain-raised with Gal Costa’s “Não Identificado,” and latest effort Pictures of Ghosts, which premiered as a Special Screening at Cannes, eases in with Tom Zé’s deceptively jaunty “Happy End.” This is a first-person, arguably selfish movie––in that associated genre, the docu-essay––where Mendonça Filho seems to be waving a teary-eyed goodbye to valuable associations and possessions, perhaps only those of individual sentimental resonance. Yet it’s “selfish” in a productive manner, almost as a function of self-care, like a sunny afternoon lounging on the settee revisiting one’s favorite LPs.
The title Pictures of Ghosts has been oddly overlapping in my mind with British theorist Mark Fisher’s posthumous hit essay collection Ghosts of My Life.
The title Pictures of Ghosts has been oddly overlapping in my mind with British theorist Mark Fisher’s posthumous hit essay collection Ghosts of My Life.
- 5/20/2023
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
A few months ago, on Jan. 1, more than 150 thousand people swarmed the savannah-based, landlocked city of Brasília — an unusual flock since beach cities like Rio are usually top destinations around the holidays. Yet Brazil’s capital was busy as ever, starting with its buzzy main avenue: By the Esplanada area, a massive crowd watched a series of concerts featuring dozens of artists from all over the country. Hip-hop heads with soccer jerseys stood next to old-school Tropicalia fans, couples holding babies shouted along to baile funk hits with groups of kids,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Felipe Maia
- Rollingstone.com
Mick Fleetwood Enlists Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt to Honor ‘Songbird’ Christine McVie at 2023 Grammys
Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, and Mick Fleetwood joined forces to pay tribute to Christine McVie during the In Memoriam segment of the 2023 Grammy Awards.
The performance began with Kacey Musgraves, who sang a shattering cover of Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (Lynn died in October at 90). Quavo then took the stage, joined by Maverick City Music, to honor his nephew Takeoff, who died in November at the age of 28 after being shot at a bowling alley in Houston, Texas.
And to bring the In Memoriam segment to a close,...
The performance began with Kacey Musgraves, who sang a shattering cover of Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (Lynn died in October at 90). Quavo then took the stage, joined by Maverick City Music, to honor his nephew Takeoff, who died in November at the age of 28 after being shot at a bowling alley in Houston, Texas.
And to bring the In Memoriam segment to a close,...
- 2/6/2023
- by Larisha Paul and Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Gal Costa, one of the most important artists in Brazilian music, died on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Born Maria da Graça Penna Burgos Costa in 1945, the influential singer was raised in Salvador, Bahia, where she took her first steps into music with the likes of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Maria Bethânia. She was barely in her twenties in 1967 when she released her first album Domingo, a bossa nova-only feat with Veloso.
In 1968, she became one of the most important voices of tropicália, the counterculture movement that disrupted Brazil’s arts and society at the time.
In 1968, she became one of the most important voices of tropicália, the counterculture movement that disrupted Brazil’s arts and society at the time.
- 11/10/2022
- by Felipe Maia
- Rollingstone.com
Drake waits until the second half of Certified Lover Boy to deploy the gloomy R&b bomb that has been one of his most reliable weapons since Take Care. That album included “Marvins Room,” which found Drake drunk at a club plotting the pettiest of revenges — calling his ex and smearing her new boyfriend. The dynamic is reversed on Certified Lover Boy‘s “Race My Mind:” This time, the object of Drake’s interest is out “all night dancin'” and “coming home intoxicated” — if she comes home at all. Drake...
- 9/7/2021
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Armando Manzanero, the celebrated Mexican singer-songwriter whose compositions include the standard “It’s Impossible,” died Monday of complications due to Covid-19. He was 85.
According to Mexico’s El Universal, Manzanero tested positive for the coronavirus on December 17 and was intubated five days later. He was stable until Sunday night.
Manzanero is known for composing hundreds of songs, many of which were translated to English including “Somos Novios,” which was recorded in English as “It’s Impossible” by Perry Como and Elvis Presley. He also wrote the classics “Adoro” and “Esta tarde vi llover” and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2014. Most recently, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Harvey Mason Jr., chair & interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy, and Gabriel Abaroa Jr. president and CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, released a statement upon hearing the...
According to Mexico’s El Universal, Manzanero tested positive for the coronavirus on December 17 and was intubated five days later. He was stable until Sunday night.
Manzanero is known for composing hundreds of songs, many of which were translated to English including “Somos Novios,” which was recorded in English as “It’s Impossible” by Perry Como and Elvis Presley. He also wrote the classics “Adoro” and “Esta tarde vi llover” and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2014. Most recently, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Harvey Mason Jr., chair & interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy, and Gabriel Abaroa Jr. president and CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, released a statement upon hearing the...
- 12/28/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles on the first shot in Bacarau: “It’s also kind of an homage to John Carpenter’s opening for two of his films, Starman and The Thing.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles' Bacurau, shot by Pedro Sotero, edited by Eduardo Serrano, costumes by Rita Azevedo, and starring Sônia Braga, Udo Kier and Bárbara Colen, had its world première at the Cannes Film Film Festival, where it won the jury prize (shared with Ladj Ly's Les Misérables). It was a highlight of the New York Film Festival. Bacurau is breathtaking from the start with Gal Costa singing Não Identificado by Caetano Veloso.
Sônia Braga is Domingas in Bacurau, not in Boyhood or Exit Through The Gift Shop Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my conversation with the directors, they make a connection to François Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451...
Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles' Bacurau, shot by Pedro Sotero, edited by Eduardo Serrano, costumes by Rita Azevedo, and starring Sônia Braga, Udo Kier and Bárbara Colen, had its world première at the Cannes Film Film Festival, where it won the jury prize (shared with Ladj Ly's Les Misérables). It was a highlight of the New York Film Festival. Bacurau is breathtaking from the start with Gal Costa singing Não Identificado by Caetano Veloso.
Sônia Braga is Domingas in Bacurau, not in Boyhood or Exit Through The Gift Shop Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my conversation with the directors, they make a connection to François Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451...
- 10/27/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
João Gilberto, the pioneering Brazilian musician and composer credited as “the father of bossa nova,” has died at the age of 88.
Gilberto’s son João Marcelo Gilberto confirmed his father’s death Saturday in Rio de Janeiro in a Facebook post, “His struggle was noble. He tried to maintain his dignity in the light of losing his independence.” No cause of death was provided.
Gilberto is considered the progenitor of bossa nova, or “new beat,” a subgenre of the Brazilian samba that scaled back that style’s percussion and arrangements.
Gilberto’s son João Marcelo Gilberto confirmed his father’s death Saturday in Rio de Janeiro in a Facebook post, “His struggle was noble. He tried to maintain his dignity in the light of losing his independence.” No cause of death was provided.
Gilberto is considered the progenitor of bossa nova, or “new beat,” a subgenre of the Brazilian samba that scaled back that style’s percussion and arrangements.
- 7/7/2019
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
While you might know more internationally famous names like Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa, the singularly named and singularly talented Dominguinhos may not be as familiar. But at SXSW, the documentary "Dominguinhos" hopes to rectify that situation, and today we have an exclusive clip. Directed by Joaquím Castro, Eduardo Nazarian, and Mariana Aydar, the film chronicles the life of the self-taught musician who grew up in an era when music on the radio was played live. It was in that environment where Dominguinhos cut his teeth seven nights per week, and quickly learned, adapted, and was inspired by a variety of styles. No musical language was foreign to him in his hands, and in this scene from the doc, you can get a taste of his extraordinary skill. "Dominguinhos," produced by Brazilan production company bigBonsai, will have its first screening at SXSW on Tuesday, March 17th at the Stateside Theatre.
- 3/12/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Seen at the 8th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (Jimff). Ah nostalgia, what a curious beast it is. This documentary whisked me back to my college days when I was an avid music collector with a rather eclectic set of tastes. One of my favorite discoveries was Brazilian music from the late 1960s and early 70s, particularly the genre known as Tropicalia. All my favorite artists of that period, including Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Os Mutantes and Tom Ze, feature prominently in this new documentary, which explores their revolutionary music and the impact it had on contemporaneous Brazilian society. Making a music documentary is no simple task. In one sense as a music documentarian you are very fortunate to have an array...
- 8/21/2012
- Screen Anarchy
In 2006, before I started The Playlist film blog, out of boredom I began what I called the The Playlist Soundtrack Series. A sort of "If I Were _______ (insert filmmaker's name here)" type thing. The concept was naive and simple: choose a handful of music-savvy filmmakers whose work I admired and create imaginary soundtracks for movies they hadn't made, based on their taste and music they might conceivably use one day. It began as nothing more than a fun exercise for me, as I had time on my hands back then.
Eventually, I had amassed a half a dozen of these soundtracks in various states of completion, and to host them somewhere I started The Playlist blog in 2007. It then became a place to discuss music in film, soundtracks, etc., and when that topic was outgrown slightly (after a while you tend to hit all the classic film and soundtrack bases...
Eventually, I had amassed a half a dozen of these soundtracks in various states of completion, and to host them somewhere I started The Playlist blog in 2007. It then became a place to discuss music in film, soundtracks, etc., and when that topic was outgrown slightly (after a while you tend to hit all the classic film and soundtrack bases...
- 5/25/2012
- by The Playlist
- The Playlist
The 49th New York Film Festival has announced their Masterworks and Special Anniversary screenings that will show between the festival’s seventeen days, September 30th – October 16th. The Masterworks program and the festival’s additional programming will provide audiences with exciting opportunities to explore new film-making styles and storytelling events. To learn more about the Masterworks and Anniversary films, please check out below for full synopsis and details.
Masterworks And Special Anniversary Screenings
Masterworks: The Gold Rush
Chaplin’s personal favorite among his own films, The Gold Rush (1925), is a beautifully constructed comic fable of fate and perseverance, set in the icy wastes of the Alaskan gold fields. Re-released by Chaplin in 1942 in a recut version missing some scenes, and with added narration and musical score, The Gold Rush will be presented in a new restoration of the original, silent 1925 version. In this frequently terrifying and always unpredictable universe of...
Masterworks And Special Anniversary Screenings
Masterworks: The Gold Rush
Chaplin’s personal favorite among his own films, The Gold Rush (1925), is a beautifully constructed comic fable of fate and perseverance, set in the icy wastes of the Alaskan gold fields. Re-released by Chaplin in 1942 in a recut version missing some scenes, and with added narration and musical score, The Gold Rush will be presented in a new restoration of the original, silent 1925 version. In this frequently terrifying and always unpredictable universe of...
- 8/28/2011
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
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