Brazilian Film Festival turns up the Summer Heat

Posted by Maryanne Salvat On September - 5 - 2012

Actor Emilio Ourciolo, Film Director Felipe Joffily, Scriptwriter Ale Felix

By:   Dr. Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

 Gisele Bündchen, the Samba, Ronaldo…just a few gifts from Brazil. Meaningful and enchanting films are just another way Brazil continues to delight and draw us in.  Twenty two of these films attracted several celebrities to the Magic City for the Inffinito Festival Circuit, the Brazilian Film Festival, which took over Miami from August 18 to 25 to celebrate its 16th year as the foremost showcase of Brazilian cinema abroad.  This year’s Festival consisted of competitive screenings at the Colony Theater and special screenings at the recently renovated Miami Beach Cinematheque.

Considered the largest event solely dedicated to Brazilian cinema outside of Brazil, and viewed by the local government as a successful business and communication platform between media, industry professionals and investors in the audiovisual sector, the Festival brought 22 Brazilian productions to Miami representing the most recent, top tier Brazilian productions. 

Along with the enticing films the Festival brought with it plenty of star power.  Throughout the week, Brazilian stars were spotted on the red carpet, at screenings and attending high-profile events.  VIPs and celebrities who flocked to Miami for the Infinitto Festival included:  Viviane Spinelli, Inffinito Director and Founder of the Brazilian Film Festival of Miami; actresses Maria Zilda and Alessandra Negrini; actors, Emilio Ourciolo and Fabio Assunçao; curator Paula Barreto and husband, former Brazilian Soccer player,  Claudio Adão; film Directors, Walter Carvalho, Oscar nominee for best director for “Central do Brasil,” Guy Gonçalves, Luis Eduardo Miranda, Felipe Joffily, Heitor D’alincourt and Andre Ristum; scriptwriter, Ale Felix; Stephanie Martins, Mariana Barreto; Adriana Dutra, film maker; film producer, Denis Feijão Affini and wife Viviane Affini; Dudu Miranda, photography director  and Helio Castro Neves – auto racing superstar. One of the highlights of the week, was the official Brazilian Film Festival after party, for which fifty of the Festival’s top VIPs and celebrities gathered on the pool deck at the gorgeous Vizcayne building in the heart of downtown Miami.

According to Viviane Spinelli, “Brazilian film has grown tremendously. We have five curators, who top the industry in Brazilian film, who choose the films that get shown.” From about 100 submissions, curators selected 22 essentials. They included the opening-night selection, Selton Mello’s award-winning The Clown, which kicked off the festival with a Wallcast at the New World Center’s SoundScape ExoStage.  “We were the first company outside the city of Miami Beach to show the projection as a Wallcast,” Spinelli explained. “This gave us an opportunity to show a poetic and romantic film while attracting a family audience.” 

For the past 156 years, the Inffinito Festival Circuit has partnered with the Brazilian government for the promotion of Brazil’s potential abroad. It is through the production of Brazilian film festivals throughout the world (including Canudos, New York, Vancouver, Miami, London, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Madrid and Barcelona) that the Festival has increased Brazil’s visibility by using culture as a tool for the promotion of products, services, tourism and for the development of new business, reaching an audience of more than one million people worldwide to date.

 

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