Friday: The Festival weekend starts here

Published in 10/02/2014

The competitive screenings of Première Brasil films are winding down at the Cinepolis Lagoon through Sunday. On Friday one of the most talked about documentaries, Rodrigo Felha's Favela Gay screens at 17.00 with Fellipe Barbosa's drama Casa Grande at 21.45.

Favela Gay shows the life of the LGBT community in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. There are gay people in the slums and gay people in the more expensive neighbourhoods of Rio, but here the subject is dealt with according to other issues – trafficking, evangelical churches and the neighbourhood. The film also addresses the common issues that the homosexual and transsexual communities must face: homophobia, prejudice, family’s attitude, work and everyday life. Despite these adversities, each character lives a daily life in their community and tells how they reinvented themselves through music, dance, politics and study.

In Casa Grande Jean is a rich teenager who struggles to escape the overprotection of his secretly bankrupt parents. When the longtime driver is fired, Jean gets his much awaited chance to catch the public bus for the first time. On the bus, he meets Louisa, a schoolgirl from a public school who helps to open his eyes to the contradictions both within and outside his home.

A new innovation this year is the opportunity for the public to meet the jurors. Friday the Pemière Brasil jury will be on duty at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Centre (Teatro 2) from 15.00. This year's the jury comprises Karim Aïnouz – President (diretor), Andrea Barata Ribeiro (producer and founder of O2 Filmes), Maurizio Braucci (screenwriter), Mike Downey (producer and deputy chairman of the European Film Academy) and Malu Mader (actress and filmmaker).

Cristiano Burlan will introduce Hamlet on Friday at Cinépolis Lagoon at 20.00. Part of Première Brasil – New Trends. Set in a large metropolis, Burlan's film is a loose adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy.

Estação Rio will host a number of filmmakers Friday. Mark Monheim will introduce About a Girl at 13.30. At 19.15 actor Carlos Bardem will introduce González, part of Focus Mexico. Carlos Marques-Marcet will present 10.000 Km at 21.30, followed at 21.45 by Sebastiano Riso who will introduce Darker Than Midnight. Across town, at Oi Futuro Ipanema, Gracie Otto will be on hand to introduce The Last Impresario at 18.00.

Richard Linklater's critically acclaimed Boyhood gets another festival screening on Friday at Cinepolis Lagoon at 16.45 and again on Wednesday at the São Luiz at 14.00 and 18.50. British bookmakers, Paddy Power, currently has Boyhood as the 2/1 favourite to win the Oscar for best picture and Linklater at 7/4 favourite to win best director.