Instituto Cervantes presents Cine Brasileño

MANILA, Philippines - The Embassy of Brazil and Instituto Cervantes present the film cycle titled Cine Brasileño, a series of recent Brazilian films to be shown on the Saturdays of February at the Instituto Cervantes theatre.  

The cycle will kick-off on Feb. 7, at 2 p.m., with two screenings: the documentary, Braxilia, and the feature film Blindness.

Braxilia is a documentary film about Nicolas Behr’s poetry on Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, directed by Danyella Proença in 2010. Its director, who will present the film, will also conduct an open discussion after the screening.

Immediately after the open discussion, at 3 p.m., the feature film Blindness will be shown. It is Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of José Saramago’s Nobel Prize-winning novel.

A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant “white blindness.” The first victims are quarantined by the authorities in an abandoned mental hospital where the newly created “society of the blind” quickly breaks down. Criminals and the physically powerful prey upon the weak. There is however one eyewitness to the nightmare. A woman whose sight is unaffected by the plague, follows her afflicted husband into quarantine.

An artistic and commercial success, Blindness received more than 30 awards and nominations.

On Feb. 14, the film cycle will show a movie fitting the special festivity of St. Valentine: Romance, directed by Guel Arraes in 2008. During a remake of the play Tristan and Isolde, actors Peter and Ana fall in love. While the characters live an idealized love, the interpreters are living a true story, which they try to spice up with the intensity of the fiction.

The film cycle will continue on Feb. 21 with the showing of O Contador de Histórias (The Story of Me), a movie directed by Luiz Villaça in 2009.  It is about how affection can improve reality. The youngest of 10 brothers, Roberto lives in a newly opened government institution which main goal is to help young and poor children. His mother takes him there believing it will guarantee a better future for her child. However, the reality of the institution is very different from what was advertised on TV.

O Contador de Histórias bagged several nominations and awards — such as the Audience Choice Award at the Paulínia Film Festival.

Directed by Jorge Durán in 2006, the critically acclaimed Proibido Proibir (Forbidden to Forbid) will conclude the film cycle on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. The movie tells the story of three friends in Rio de Janeiro: Leon (Alexandre Rodrigues), a sociology student; his girlfriend Leticia (Maria Flor), an architecture student; and Leon’s best friend Paulo (Caio Blat), a medical student secretly attracted to Leticia.

Proibido Proibir enjoyed quite a success in film festivals worldwide, receiving the Special Jury Prize in the Havana Film Festival, the Cine en Construcción at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, or the Silver Colón in the Huelva Latin American Film Festival, among others. 

All films will be shown in their original version in Portuguese with English subtitles (except for Blindness, which will be in English). The screenings will take place at the Salón de Actos of  Instituto Cervantes, 855 T.M. Kalaw, Ermita, Manila. Entrance is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For  information, visit  www.manila.cervantes.es or www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila, or call 526-1482. Call the Embassy of Brazil at 845-3651, or visit www.facebook.com/brasemb.manila.