Luiz Bolognesi

This documentary series details how Brazil was shaped by centuries of armed conflict, from the first conquerors to today's violence.

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Intense and visceral, Elis Regina was a protagonist not only in the Brazilian musical scene but also in her own path. She put her heart and soul into the art of singing and living, sailed through different musical genres and faced personal dramas.

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Ever since their first contact with the Western world in 1969 the Paiter Suruí, an indigenous people living in the Amazon basin, have been exposed to sweeping social changes. Smartphones, gas, electricity, medicines, weapons and social media have now replaced their traditional way of life. Illness is a risk for a community increasingly unable to isolate itself from the modernization brought by white people or the power of the church. Ethnocide threatens to destroy their soul. With dogged persistence, Perpera, a former shaman, is searching for a way to restore the old vitality to his village.

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1980s. Brazilian television exploding in color and auditorium programs not so politically correct. In the middle of this fervor, Augusto Mendes, a young rising actor, seeks his place in the sun. From porn studios to soap operas, he finally finds success and fame when he becomes "Bingo", a TV host clown from one of the audience leader TV shows for children. It turns out that behind the rice powder and red nose, nobody knows who he is.

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Rosa is in her late 30s, a child of the 1970s with divorced parents. She lives with her own family in São Paulo. Overwhelmed by an eruption of individual passions, lies and the expectations of three generations, she tries to discover who she really is.

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The film tells the story of the energetic and pulsating singer Elis Regina since her arrival in Rio de Janeiro at age 19 until her tragic and early death. Despite all the difficulties, success comes fulminant and the life of Elis Regina gained national and international recognition, becoming undoubtedly considered today the greatest Brazilian singer of all time.

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After a plane crash, Saï, a capuchin monkey born and raised in captivity, finds himself alone and lost in the wilderness of the Amazon jungle.

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The documentary Olympic Women, directed by Laís Bodanzky, shows that the history of women in sport is often entwined with the history of women as a whole. While so many Brazilian women were fighting for the right to vote, to divorce, and the right to free speech, some were fighting for the right to be present at one of the biggest events on the planet: the Olympics. And something that should have been simple and natural, was not. Some Olympic appearances were dramatic. Others, isolated and lonely. Just as in society, women in sport had to earn their rights by force.

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“Rio 2096 – A Story of Love and Fury” is an animated film that portrays the love between an immortal hero and Janaína, the woman he has been in love with for 600 years. As a backdrop to the romance, the feature highlights four phases of Brazilian history: colonization, slavery, the Military Regime and the future, in 2096, when there will be a war for water.

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Everyday family life as perfectly normal madness. “As Melhores Coisas do Mundo“ follows a few days in the life of the 15-year-old Mano, who is fighting on two fronts: his parents have just got divorced and he is going through puberty. Mano tries to make his way through life, with its first sexual experiences, his depressed brother and his self-centered parents. It’s a humorous homage to the pitfalls of daily life and the diversity of life.

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Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, the present. When a young Guarani-Kaiowá woman commits suicide, Nádio leads his community to form a protest camp on the borders of a local farm that sits on their ancestral burial ground.

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An evening in an old time dance hall in Sao Paulo introduces us to local characters who reminisce about the past, wonder about the future, have fun, flirt, fight and, of course, dance. Its earthy humour and eternal themes of ageing, loneliness and desire is an antidote to grumpy old men and women everywhere.

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In 1519, the Portuguese captain Fernão de Magalhães ventured to travel and ended up proving that the Earth was round. In 1997, the Schürmann family decided to travel around the world again along this path.

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In 1932, more than two hundred thousand men armed with machine guns, grenades and canons took part in on of the most violent wars in America in the 20th century. Brazilian against Brazilian, in a conflict that involved air raid of big cities – such as Campinas, Santos and São Paulo - and resulted in more than two thousand deaths. Why did this war happen? Who took part in it? What were the details of the conflict? How did the war end? The documentary tells this episode of the country's history, not only grand but also unknown, with an accessible language and an involving rhythm.

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Neto is a middle class teenager living a normal life. After his father finds a marijuana cigarette on his pocket, he is sent to a mental institution, where he gets to know a completely absurd and inhumane reality in which people are devoured by a corrupt and cruel system.

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Laís Bodanzky and Luiz Bolognesi travel around the small cities of Brazil, exhibiting short films in public squares. From the south of Bahia to the farthest parts of Amazon, this documentary discovers a country that watches a movie and sees itself on the screen for the very first time, in the turning of the 21st century. What’s seen and heard is truly surprising.

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Written and directed by Luiz Bolognesi, this short film tells the adventures of two homeless men on the streets of São Paulo. The film was inspired by old popular legends about the wandering of Jesus and Saint Peter around the world.

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