The latest from Cine Chat - Festival do Rio

Published in 10/06/2015

On Monday at Cine Odeon two films were screened in the presence of cast and crew: Future June and Neon Bull. Neon Bull (Boi neon), Gabriel Mascaro’s prize-winning feature-length film, nominated for the Premiere Brasil, recounts the personal journey of Iremar (Juliano Cazarré) a farm-hand who dreams of becoming a stylist, and who spends his time designing and making clothes.

Pedro Butcher, the journalist and critic who led the discussion, stated that director Mascaro had really brought something new to the table with his narrative. Sandino Vinay, the Argentine co-producer, added that having known Mascaro for years, the minute she found out about the project she was desperate to be involved.

The director explained he wanted to make a film about the North-East of Brazil that didn’t just rehearse the same old story: films about the Sertão always depict characters desperate to leave the desert. He continued: “I wanted to make a film about people who live there and want to live there. I wanted to update the cinematic imaginary of the North-East, without falling into the old traps of exaggerating or stereotyping.”

The film’s main actors discussed their roles, the challenges they faced and the unusual preparation process that lasted months. Maeve Jinkings and Vinícius de Oliveira revealed that they spent two and a half months living on the farm, getting up early to get their hands dirty with the animals and learning what it was like living with one another. The public also partook in the debate, raising questions about gender, prejudices and practical elements of the process.

Second up was Future June (Futuro junho), a film about four workers in Sao Paulo in June 2014, as the city is preparing to host the World Cup tournament. Director Maria Augusta Ramos, editor Karen Akerman, photographers Camila Freitas and Lucas Barbi and the economist André Perfeito, who also starred in the film, were present to discuss the work and its implications. Patrícia Rebello, doctor in Social Communications, led the debate.

The director commented on the origins of the project, which began with her own desire to understand better the financial market after the economic crisis of 2008. She wanted to question the notion of the neoliberal model proposed as the only possible model for the global market by focusing on ordinary people’s interaction with this abstract financial concept.

The film also dwelled on aspects of the city of Sao Paulo, concentrating on how different modes of transport were used to create different velocities. Perfeito joked that he was the villain of the piece, but those present agreed he was actually instrumental in explaining the number-crunching so as to make it accessible for the general public.

A group of high-school economics students from Colégio Estadual Dom Pedro II had come from Petrópolis to participate in the debate, and joined in by asking about various elements, from the role of social protest movements to technical questions about how to finance a film. The discussion concluded with a nod to the fact that the economic crisis is still very much present today, with the devaluation of the Brazilian real weighing heavily on the minds of those assembled.

On Sunday, Jonas (Jonah) took to the Cine Chat stage. The director, Lô Politi, and the main actors were part of a discussion led by Professor of Cinema at one of Rio’s main universities – the PUC – Sergio Mota. The film, as its allegorical title suggests, tells the story of lonely youth Jonas, who kidnaps the daughter of his mother’s boss – for whom he has kindled a secret passion since childhood – and hides her inside a large carnival float in the shape of a whale.

Mota began by praising the film’s successful fusion of various elements: somewhere between a drama and a thriller, incorporating a biblical twist as well as images of an urban Sao Paulo. The director highlighted that these actually came together more easily than she had imagined. She attributed much of this to the actor Jesuitá Barbosa, who plays the film’s title role, for his admirable interpretation of what is a truly complex character. Politi commented that many of the scenes exploring his emotional responses were cut because they were redundant in the face of the actor’s outstanding natural expressionism. Politi also praised the young actor Luam Marques, who plays the part of Jonas’s brother Jander. Marques is just 13 years old, and the director commented that she found no-one else that even came close to portraying this character with the same potency.

Another important actor in the film was the city of Sao Paulo itself. The director expressed a long-held desire to film the city’s carnival, as a site of extreme contrast between grey urbanism and festival colours. In fact, she revealed her inspiration for the film came to her whilst watching the carnival floats go past one year.

Adapted by Gill Harris from texts by Juliana Shimada, Vinícius Spanghero and Clara Ferrer.

Photos: Natália Alvim.

For the full articles, please see the Portuguese version of the Festival's website.