Remember the main events of the 39th São Paulo International Film Festival
< >

From October 22nd to November 4th, the 39th São Paulo International Film Festival screened 312 titles from 62 countries at 22 addresses, between cinemas, cultural centers and museums scattered around the city, including free and outdoor screenings.

The opening film of this edition was My Hindu Friend, directed by Hector Babenco. The closing one was A Perfect Day, signed by Fernando León de Aranoa.

The 39th Mostra paid tribute to The Film Foundation, created in 1990 by Martin Scorsese and dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history. Of the organization, the festival exhibited 25 restored films, including Limite, the masterpiece of Brazilian filmmaker Mário Peixoto, in a session held at the Cinematheque.

Two restored titles of The Film Foundation were shown in outdoor screenings: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, by Alfred Hitchcock, had a special exhibition at the Brazilian Cinematheque’s garden, with live music played by the pianist Tony Berchmans; and My Best Girl, directed by Sam Taylor and starring by Mary Pickford, which was presented at Ibirapuera Park with musical accompaniment by the Heliópolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by American composer David Michael Frank.

The Heliópolis Symphony Orchestra also performed at Sala São Paulo, after the session of The Violin Teacher, a movie that tells the story of the musical group.

With a selection of 60 films, the Nordic Showcase offered the most extensive perspective ever held in Brazil of the cinema made in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway. The program included a Coproduction Meeting, in which Brazilian and Nordic professionals exchanged experiences.

The São Paulo Museum of Art’s span had the traditional free sessions during Mostra, with the exhibition of Ararat, by Atom Egoyan; Tudo É Brasil and O Signo do Caos, both directed by Rogério Sganzerla; and At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul and This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse, by José Mojica Marins.

Mojica was also honored with the Leon Cakoff Prize, given to his sons during the exhibition of two chapters of the series Coffin Joe. The Humanity Awards were given to Italian director Ermanno Olmi and the Chilean Patricio Guzmán.

In the year that celebrates the centenary of the director Mario Monicelli (1915-2010), Mostra paid tribute to him by screening restored copies of some of his most important films.

Meetings

The 39th Mostra also promoted a series of meetings. Member of the jury, the actress Geraldine Chaplin answered audience questions about his career. The Writers Meeting was attended by Argentinian Santiago Mitre and the Brazilians Carolina Kotscho, Luiz Bolognesi and Di Moretti, who moderated the conversation.

Isabel Davis, from the British Institute, gave a lecture about filming in the UK and co-production opportunities with Brazil as part of the British Day, held in partnership with the British Consulate General in São Paulo. And Joséphine Derobe talked to the public about 3D after the exhibition of the movie Cathedrals of Culture, as part of ABC Screenings —in the second year of the partnership between Mostra and the Brazilian Association of Cinematography (ABC).

The program also included the cycle Memórias do Cinema, in which 11 personalities talked about the titles that influenced them. In addition, Mostra and Editora Brasileira released the book Memórias do Cinema - Um Idioma Universal, a publication that gathers the testimonials of the last two editions of the event.

Award

The international jury —composed by Geraldine Chaplin, Iván Wyszogrod, Luis Miñarro, Nathanaël Karmitz and Paul Machline— gave the Bandeira Paulista prize of Best Picture to the Icelandic film Sparrows, directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson. They also gave an honorable mention to Carte Blanche, a Polish feature film by Jacek Lusinski.

The Audience Awards were: An, by the Japanese director Naomi Kawase (Best International Fiction); Pixadores, by Amir Escandari (Best International Documentary); The Violin Teacher, by Sérgio Machado (Best Brazilian Feature Fiction); and Wrestlers, by Marc Dourdin (Best Brazilian Documentary).

Among the audience of the Youth Festival, the winners were Beatles, by Peter Flinth (Best International Film), and California, by Marina Person (Best Brazilian Film).

Prizes also went to the Greenery Will Bloom Again, by the Italian Ermanno Olmi (Critics Award); Hopefuls, by Ives Rosenfeld (ABRACCINE Award); and Sparrows, by Rúnar Rúnarsson (Best Screenplay, according to the Film Authors Association).

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA