Photographer:

Michelle F. Solomon, FFCC

Beginning Friday, Sept. 14 and until Sunday, Sept. 23, Miami becomes the capital of Brazilian cinema bringing together directors, actors and producers to the largest Brazilian film festival outside of Brazil, according to its producers.

The competitive screenings present eight feature films depicting the diversity of the Brazilian cinematography. This year, the curator is Anna Marie de la Fuente, chief editor for Latin America Variety magazine, Flavia Guerra, journalist and documentary filmmaker, and Carlos Gutierrez, director of NY-based Cinema Tropical Film distributor.

Films competing for the Crystal Lens award are premieres in Florida, and two of them will be presented in Miami before being released in Brazil: Jeferson De's comedy "Running After," with a mostly black cast and crew, and drama "Loveling," by Gustavo Pizzi. Two out of the eight feature films in competition are directed by women: the dramas "The Liquid Truth," by Carolina Jabor, and "The Good Manners," by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra. Also part of the selection the acclaimed "Berenice," by Allan Fiterman, with an important LGBT figure in the cast; and "The Patient," Sérgio Rezende's medical thriller that reveals details of the mysterious death of the elected president Tancredo Neves, who never took office (premiering simultaneously in Brazil); and the comedy "Before I Forget," by Tiago Arakilian.

In the hors concours session, the festival presents two long-awaited Brazilian documentaries: "Quero Botar Meu Blocona Rua," by Adriana L. Dutra, about the street carnival in Rio de Janeiro, and "Februaries" by Marcio Debellian, which registers the victory of samba school Mangueira and its tribute to beloved singer Maria Bethânia, and accompanies her during celebration of Our Lady of Purification in the state of Bahia.

Cacá Diegues, this edition’s tribute, will be honored with three emblematic special screenings:

"Orfeu" (1999), "God is Brazilian" (2003) and "The Greatest Love of All" (2006). In parallel screenings directed to engagement of new audiences, three films will be presented at Florida International University: Fernando Severo's documentary "Euller Miller Between Two Worlds," starring a young indigenous "Kaiwá; Life is a Bitch," by Julia Rezende, and "Wildcar," by Caio Soh.

Some of the special programs include:

• Friday, Sept. 14 to Sunday, Sept. 16.
  Savor Cinema, Fort Lauderdale
  Homage in tribute to the renowned director CacáDiegues.
• Monday, Sept. 17 and Tuesday, Sept. 18
  Florida International University
  University Show with films exhibited at FIU universities focusing on the young audience for audience formation.
• Wednesday, Sept. 19 to Saturday, Sept. 22
  Regal South Beach 18
  Competitive Show witheight unseen films produced in 2017/2018 competing for the Lente de Cristal award for best film chosen by the public.
• Saturday, Sept. 22
  Downtown Media Center
  Marketplace - Presentation of panels on incentive laws for co-productions with Brazil.
• Sunday, Sept. 23
  New World Symphony Soundscape Park
  Closing Night with the delivery of the Crystal Lenses for the best film chosen by the public and in honor of the director Caca Diegues . The event will feature DJ Lupa followed by the free exhibition of the film "Bye ByeBrasil," by Caca Diegues.

Schedule of Movies:

REGAL SOUTH BEACH 18

Photographer:

• "The Fuzz"
  Comedy / 2018 / 90min
  7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 19
  Regal South Beach 18
  Keyla (Tatá Werneck) and Claudio (CauãReymond) are two policemen who have nothing in common, but are forced to work together in the quiet town of Joinland. She is a competent investigator who thinks she can solve it all by herself. Claudio is only a good looking police officer and nothing efficient. The two will form an unlikely pair and together try to capture a skilled serial killer.
 


Photographer:

"Before I Forget"

• "Before I Forget"
  9 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 19
  At 80 years old, Polidoro decides to demolish the stability of his retired judge and become a partner in a strip club. Beatriz, his daughter, decides to intervene in court. His son, Paul, declares himself incapable to comment on the matter, because he no longer maintains a relationship with his father. The judge order that father and are start meeting again and the rapprochement will change their lives.
 


Photographer:

• "Loveling" ("Hubby")
  Drama / 2018 / 95min
  7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 20
  Irene lives in a crumbling house in the outskirts of Rio with her husband and her four sons. Her teenage son Fernando is a local handball star and when he is scouted to play professionally in Germany, the family has only a few weeks to ready his departure and say goodbye. The perspective of Fernando leaving is a shock and a big change in Irene's life but also the chance to see herself as a woman again and not just as a mother.
 


Photographer:

• "Good Manners"/"The Good Ways"
  Fantasy, Horror / 2017 / 135min
  9 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 20
  Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of São Paulo, is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana to be the nanny of her soon to be born child. Against all odds, the two women develop a strong bond. But a fateful night marked by a full moon changes their plans.
 


Photographer:

• "Running"
  Comedy / 2018 / 86min
  7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 21
  Paulo Gale is a Brazilian Brazilian man, a typical "day-by-day survivor", always doing his best to bring some happiness in his life, and by happiness he means money. When finding himself a dead end, he discovers the opportunity to become a football manager by leading some boy from the neighborhood to becoming the new Neymar of international soccer. Going through the suburbs of Rio, he finds Glanderson, a young boy with an enormous talent for soccer given the absence of two toes in his right foot. With good humor, high hopes, and a lot of missteps the quixotic duo tries their best to get to their dream to come true.
 


Photographer:

"Berenice"

• "Berenice"
  Comedy / 2018 / 86min
  9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 21
  Taxi driver Berenice faces a family crisis, dealing with a chauvinistic husband and a son in search of his sexual identity. The murder of a beautiful transgender woman at Copacabana Beach sparks her investigative instincts and changes her life forever.
 


Photographer:

• "Liquid Truth"/"To Your Eyes"
  Drama / 2017 / 90min
  7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22
  A precise and disquieting portrait about the nowadays usual public online lynching: a sports teacher is accused of sexual harassment by one his young pupils during a swimming class. His guilt or innocence is impossible to be verified, but the case gains huge backlash online and the consequences are nefarious.

Savor Cinema, Fort Lauderdale

Photographer:

• "Orpheu"
  Drama / 1999 / 115min
  8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 14
  

  Inspired by the play "Orfeu da Conceição" by Vinicius de Moraes, the film tells the love story of Orpheus (Toni Garrido) and Eurydice (Patricia France). Orfeu is the most famous composer in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and leader of the favela where he lives and his samba school. He is working on the preparation of the carnival parade when he meets Eurydice, to newcomer to the city. The two fell madly in love, triggering jealousy and violence in the neighborhood.

 
• "Journey Through Rio's Street Parades"
  Documentary / 2018 / 75min
  6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15
  An affective journey through the history of Rio's street blocks, telling the saga of this fascinating popular manifestation that goes beyond the centuries adapting to all kinds of social, political, cultural or economic transformations, and legitimizing itself as an achievement of the people. To help tell this story, founders and components of some of the most emblematic blocks of the city: Cordão da Bola Preta, Band of Ipanema, Cacique de Ramos and Last Gole, representing the hundreds of blocks that proliferate in the streets, and make Rio January the biggest outdoor party in the world. A party where all are hosts and guests.
 


Photographer:

• "God Is Brazilian"
  Comedy / 2002 / 110min
  8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15
  Tired of so many mistakes made by humanity, God (Antonio Fagundes) decides to take a vacation in some distant star. Before leaving, He must find a substitute to replace Him and decide to seek it in Brazil with the guidance of fisherman Taoca (Wagner Moura). Together, they will travel the country in search of the ideal substitute. The film is an adaptation of the story "The Saint Who Did Not Believe in God" by João Ubaldo Ribeiro.
 


Photographer:

• "The Greatest Love of All"
  Drama / 2006 / 106min
  8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 16
  Antonio, a famous Brazilian astrophysicist and professor at an American university, receives the news that he has a terminal illness. Upon returning to Brazil to receive an official homage, he discovers the identity of his biological parents and the astonishing love story between them.

Florida International University

• "Euller Miller Between Two Worlds"
  Documentary / 2018 / 77min
  6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18
  Euller Miller is a young native Brazilian of kaiwá ethnicity who leaves his small village just outside of Dourados (MS) to study dentistry at a public university in the crowded capital city of the state of Paraná. The film follows the complex transition between two very different worlds and the search for new horizons without abandoning its indigenous roots. A film of speech, silences, and pauses, integrated with imagery that represents with propriety Euller Miller's tough journey between two worlds, that of his native origins and his urban university environment, which may or may not be dissociated and amalgamated into his body and soul.

Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami

• "Life is a Bitch"
  Drama / 2018 / 100min
  3:45 p.m., Monday, Sept. 17
  Lonely, frustrated, and unable to do anything to make sense of their lives, Vladimir, Clivia, Regina, and Primo make an absurd plan: to kidnap to millionaire. But they do not have experience with crime or notion of what it envolves. As they move forward, their fears and ambitions are revealed.

See a schedule of more films at https://www.inffinito.com/22nd-braff-miami-in