By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The touring film festival CINEfoot, arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, June 26th and will, for an additional seven non-consecutive days, celebrate all things football through free screenings of national and international films in the city’s Centro Cultural Justiça Federal (CCJF) and Cinemaison theaters.
Taking place during the World Cup tournament‘s first official rest day, the festival continues tonight, Friday, June 27th, at the CCJF in Centro beginning at 7PM.
Tonight’s program will feature screenings of ten short films that include; Swiss director, Mettler’s six-minute film “Ronaldo” about the Portugal’s star player; German directors Nadine and Sven Schrader’s “Partida Internacional”; “Como Hipólito Vázquez Encontrou Magia Onde Não Esperava” a short film from Argentina; and Brazilian director, André Castelão’s “O Primeiro João”, among others.
Additional screenings of both short and feature films will be held at the CCJF on June 29th, July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, while Centro’s Cinemaison will host screenings on June 30th and July 7th.
Other highlights of the upcoming programs include the July 1st screening at CCJF of the Brazilian documentary, “Dossiê 50: Comício a Favor dos Náufragos.” Directed by Geneton Moraes Neto, the film features audio and video from interviews made by Neto during the 1980s of the eleven players on the Brazilian team during their 1950 World Cup match against Uruguay in the famed Maracanã stadium, and the defeat that came to be known as “Maracanazo.”
All screenings are part of the fifth edition of the CINEfoot festival which began in 2010 in celebration of that year’s FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. During this edition, CINEfoot is touring the twelve Brazilian host cities for the 2014 tournament. The festival began on March 9th of this year in Salvador, and has since traveled to São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Manaus, Cuiabá, Recife, Brasília, Curitba, Fortaleza, and Natal.
“The festival brings these films to the cities, because otherwise viewing them is very difficult. With the tour taking place during the World Cup, we wish to offer locals and tourists, the opportunity to connect with these very rare films,” curator and founder of the CINEfoot festival Antônio Leal explained.
Additionally, the festival will travel to Belo Horizonte for screenings on July 5th and 7th to close out this year’s edition. For more information and the complete schedule of screenings, see the CINEfoot festival website (in Portuguese).
What: CINEfoot festival
When: June 27th, 29th, and 30th and July 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th. All screenings begin at 7PM with the exception of two screenings beginning at 3PM on July 7th.
Where: Centro Cultural Justiça Federal (CCJF) – Av. Rio Branco 241, Centro (June 27th, 29th and July 1st, 2nd, 3rd)
Cinemaison – Av. Presidente Antonio Carlos 58, Centro (June 30th and July 7th)
Entrance: Free
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