Miami Festival of Brazilian Movies - June 1 to 9, 2007

After a successful 10th anniversary, the Brazilian Film Festival of Miami is back for its 11th year and hope to build on the buzz and momentum of the previous year to create even more visibility for Brazilian cinema in the U.S. and secure its spot on South Florida's cultural calendar.

The Festival, produced by Inffinito Foundation and City of Miami Beach, is the largest competitive showing of Brazilian movies held outside of Brazil. All the films in competition are being screened in the U.S. for the first time. Over 20,000 people - Latinos, Brazilians, Americans and tourists alike - are expected at the screenings at the Colony Theatre where over 30 films will be screened.

Film screenings are at 7 pm and 9 pm, with an 11 pm late night screening on Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets for the screenings are US$ 10 each. Guests can also purchase a VIP pass for US$ 120, which includes access to all screenings, private parties, and the closing night award ceremony.

The nine-day Festival will take place in South Beach from June 1 to 9, 2007. Tickets for the screenings at the Colony Theatre will go on sale on April 30th and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.

The Festival will bring actors, directors, producers and executives from the Brazilian and American film industries together to screen Brazilian productions, all previously unseen in the US.

The Brazilian Film Festival of Miami launches on Friday, June 1st, with a free opening party at the North Beach Band Shell, where an outdoor screening of Carla Camurati's Irma Vap - The Return, the 2006 Best Picture Public Choice, will be projected on the giant screen.

The 2006 Best Short Film award winner, What's up Tocayo, will also be screened at the opening party. It's a short-film documentary made in Havana, Cuba about a Cuban mother, Mirian Torres, who tries to show us the world through her point of view. The free party will begin at 6 pm with a performance by The Brazilian Samba School and music by DJ Marcelo and will be followed by the outdoor film screening at sundown (approximately 8:30 pm). Last year's opening event brought 1,300 guests to the North Beach Band Shell, where guest partied the night away under the stars.

Between June 2nd and 8th the Colony Theatre will present over 30 short and feature productions, among them: Noel-The Samba Poet (2006) about a young medical student who becomes a samba music star and gets carried away by all vices of stardom until an illness complicates his life; 1972 (2006), a film by José Emílio Rondeau about a rock star from Rio de Janeiro looking for love; Cartola (2006), the story of one of the most important composers of Brazilian music and a history of samba based on one of its most distinguishable figures; Dirty Money (2006), a well-crafted comedy of errors, which addresses the distortions created by capitalism in a culture of corruption; Unforgettable (2006) by Paulo Sérgio Almeida about an actor who uses the magic of cinema to get revenge on his wife and his best friend who are having an affair; Urban Snap-shots (2006), which chronicles a day in the life of five middle-class women in Rio de Janeiro; and Zuzu Angel (2006) about a fashion designer who becomes entrenched in a fight against the military regime after her son gets killed, putting her own life in danger. Never before seen in the US, all the films were finished or released to the Brazilian public between 2006 and 2007 and will now compete for top Festival honors.

Brazilian film legend Ney Latorraca will receive a special tribute during the festival. Selected films from his filmography will be screened at the Colony Theatre throughout the Festival.

At the festival's closing ceremony, to be held on June 9th, a jury comprised of movie industry professionals will select the year's best in 11 categories, including Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The winners will be presented with a Crystal Lens Award, a trophy designed by Brazilian sculptor Helena Bressane. The Best Picture Public Choice will also be awarded to the best feature and short films, as voted by the audience.

The Brazilian Film Festival of Miami will be followed up in New York by the Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil, which takes place August 5th to the 12th. The New York Festival will kick off with a concert by AfroReggae at Central Park SummerStage followed by the screening of Zuzu Angel.

posted by nscafuro @ 4:59 PM 1 comments

Brazil's Romario scores 1,000th goal

Romario's 1,000th goal wasn't scored in the Maracana stadium, and it came from a penalty kick.

But soccer-mad Brazil still breathed a sigh of relief Monday – one day after the 41-year-old striker ended a nearly two-month cliffhanger worthy of a Brazilian soap opera.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva phoned Romario to congratulate him on the goal. Romario converted a 48th-minute penalty in Vasco da Gama's 3-1 victory Sunday over Sport of Recife in the second round of the Brazilian national championship.

Romario claimed his 999th goal on March 25 against Flamengo and then kept an entire nation waiting by failing to score for the next three games while Vasco was eliminated from the Rio de Janeiro state championship.

"This is a historic moment for me and world soccer," Romario said. "I have been chasing this goal real hard and at times I thought I may never reach it."

He wasn't the only one to have his doubts.

Former Vasco coach Renato Gaucho complained that the quest for No. 1,000 had hurt the team. Romario's wife Isbella Bittencourt objected to having to keep the children up late to watch the games and fans complained about ticket prices at the Maracana stadium.

Romario, who had said he would retire after scoring his 1,000th goal, now plans to stay on with Vasco until the end of the national championship.

Many in soccer consider Romario's achievement dubious, pointing to 71 goals he counts that were scored as a teenager and as an amateur, as well as others scored in training games and unofficial matches against small clubs.

His tally already was revised several times because he initially counted goals scored in matches that never happened and in games that ended 0-0.

According to FIFA, Romario has 929 career goals.

Pele had 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches but also had to wait for four games after scoring 999 goals. He too scored his 1,000th goal with a penalty kick.

posted by nscafuro @ 7:03 PM 0 comments

Brazilian Bossa Nova star set for new US tour

Broken hearts usually figure in Bossa Nova songs but as Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto gets ready to hit the road again, it's a broken foot that is on her mind.

The daughter of Bossa Nova legend Joao Gilberto broke her foot a few weeks ago in New York. She faces a second round of surgery in Rio de Janeiro this week before embarking on a tour U.S. and Canadian tour starting in Miami on May 19.

The injury has forced Gilberto and her band to use Internet technology to polish the arrangements for the songs they will perform for the tour which starts in Miami on May 19.

"The band and I had to finish our rehearsals by Skype but hopefully everything will be fine," Gilberto said referring to the Internet telephone network in an interview from her apartment in Rio de Janeiro.

Her just-released third album "Momento" is similar in style to her previous efforts which sold millions and made her an international star. It is lush, dreamy and electronic with arrangements influenced by bossa and samba songs.

The lead song "Momento," written with Japanese guitarist Maza Shimizu, is an upbeat, pumping tune ready to please urban types around the world.

The 40-year-old Gilberto said it was her best recording experience to date.

"It was the quickest process, the least painful and the one that gave me more pleasure," she explained.

Besides writing or co-writing many of the songs, Gilberto also included songs from other artists. One of them, "Cacada" was written by her uncle, the Brazilian music legend Chico Buarque. It has a rootsy northeastern flavor thanks to a Brazilian percussion instrument called zabumba.

From New York, her home when she's not in London or Rio, she partnered with the rock band Brazilian Girls, on the song "Bring Back the Love," which is sure to send listeners to the dance floor.

"They are all my friends, we go to each other's houses, they are really close to me. And had a lot of fun together doing this song," she said.

Her U.S. tour includes dates in Miami, New York, Westhampton Beach, in New York, and Washington, as well as two jazz festivals in Vancouver and Ottawa.

Concerts that had been scheduled for Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago but were canceled because of her injury foot injury will be announced later, according to her record company.

posted by nscafuro @ 8:25 PM 1 comments