Two years after the Lumiere Brothers' invention of motion picture, the Latin American film industry took roots in Brazil. The short films of the early days paved way to the musicals – ‘chanchadas' and subsequently new wave cinema. Political commentaries soon blended with football, salsa and carnival hues. Today Brazil has directors whose movies have not just made it to the Cannes but also have become box-office grossers such as Carlos Saldanha's “Ice Age” and now the much talked about 3D animation flick “Rio”.
“There are various genres of films being made in Brazil today, ranging from live action to animation, from rom-coms to social dramas. People have a strong affinity to issue-based social films that reflect the Brazilian reality,” says director Alice Gomes who was in Hyderabad for the 17th International Children's Film Festival of India. Her film ‘Lapis de Cor' was screened under the Shorts Competition category. It was screened at 45 film festivals around the world and won the Best Short Film award at the CMS International Film Festival in Lucknow early this year.
A film journalist with Filme B back in Rio de Janiero, Alice has earlier assisted director Paulo Sergio de Almeida for his 2007 box-office hit “Inesquecivel” and later went on to direct the television series ‘Peca Piloto' on GNT/Globosat. Her directorial short film debut “Lapis de Cor” from her production house Glaz Video was a representative of Brazilian films in the children's film festival and a laudable effort. “We don't have an established industry for children's films. Television stars mostly make films for children that are a huge success. But of late with the government planning to start a new facility for children's cinema, the genre seems to get stronger,” she says.
With Hollywood showing keen interest in Rio, along with Latin American investment firms, a new private capital is set to help filmmakers in Brazil. Increasing number of cinema halls and film making institutes in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo only seem to add to the fervour.
“When I was studying there were not so many options to study film making as you have today,” says an optimistic Alice, as she gets back to work on her next script already.
