By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Once again highlighting the best of contemporary Brazilian cinema, the Semana dos Realizadores (Directors’ Week) film festival will return on Thursday, November 19th. Celebrating its seventh edition this year, the festival will continue through November 25th and will feature film screenings in Espaço Itaú de Cinema in Botafogo as well as special programs, debates, video installations and a masterclass with French filmmaker Sylvain George.
Including short, medium and feature length films the festival will screen a total of fifty films with many of the directors presenting their works themselves. Twenty of the films will be featured in the competitive section of the festival with those films vying to win a place in the festivals IndieLisboa and Festival Cinematográfico Internacional del Uruguay.
Notable participating filmmakers this year include André Novais de Oliveira, winner of the festival’s 2014 feature-length film award and Maria Augusta Ramos, who presented a retrospective during the festival’s 2013 edition.
During this edition of the festival, French filmmaker Sylvian George will present a retrospective of his films. A former social worker, George is known for his works documenting issues facing immigrants, refugees, the unemployed, and others marginalized from society.
George depicts the current social issues using avant-garde techniques including free jazz and punk soundtracks, negatives of stock images, non-traditional framing and fractured cuts. George will also present a Master Class on Friday, November 20th at 2PM.
The festival will also feature two debates, the first is “A imagem em movimento no cinema e na arte contemporânea – contaminações e potências” (“The moving image in film and contemporary art – contamination and powers”), which will feature Fred Benevides, Carlos Adriano, Gustavo Spolidoro and Pedro França with moderator Patricia Mourão and will take place on Sunday, November 22nd at 2PM at Espaço de Cinema.
The second debate will be “Construção e desconstrução do feminino/masculino no cinema brasileiro contemporâneo” (“Construction and deconstruction of female/male in contemporary Brazilian cinema”) which will feature Anita Rocha da Silveira, Maeve Jinking, Ilana Feldman, Joana Gatis e Yasmin Thayná, with moderator Amanda Gabriel and will take place as a parallel event at Olho da Rua on Saturday, November 21st at 2PM.
Additionally in Espaço Cultural Olho da Rua on November 21st there will be an exhibition with four video installations. For more information about the festival and for complete programming see the official VII Semana dos Realizadores website.
What: VII Semana dos Realizadores
When: November 19th – 25th. Various screening times, see the complete schedule.
Where: Espaço Itaú de Cinema, Praia de Botafogo, 316
Espaço Cultural Olho da Rua, R. Bambina, 6 – Botafogo
Entrance: R$6 – R$12 per screening.