How can a film festival that advocates creativity, experimentation, innovation, and surprise do this for the sake of its own cause each year?
Not an easy task. We don't know if we managed to get there, but we certainly believe that this 4th edition of CineEsquemaNovo - Porto Alegre Film Festival, our CEN 2007, is the one that comes closest to what we've always wanted for the festival. Simply because we feel ourselves evolving, regardless of what each of the previous versions has fed us, given us ground, and generated in the form of memorable screenings - such as the special programs for Rogério Sganzerla, Ruy Guerra, the “Cinema de Artista” and the “Mostra Noutras Janelas”, besides of all the short, medium and feature films selected for competitive screenings each edition.
However, in order for CEN to continue its evolutionary process in 2007, we have to go beyond the freedom we preach and access to autonomous production brought about by the new media. We need a concrete idea, an identity. We need to show OUR IDENTITY!
Here is our motto and central point of CineEsquemaNovo 2007: IDENTIFY YOURSELF!
Why? Because, in times of total freedom on the one hand and dependence on incentive laws on the other, it is necessary to reflect on the result of the historical process of the often criticized national cinema. So that we can understand the meaning of what we are watching and producing.
For this reason, this year, CineEsquemaNovo is betting on IDENTITY IN THE BRAZILIAN CINEMA. An individual, authorial identity, free of ties and preconceptions; a cinema defined by genres: fiction, documentary, animation, experimental. A cinema without borders. A cinema, as Sganzerla said, without limits.
All of this is also present in the Short and Medium-Length Films Competitive Screening, with 50 works selected from 759 submissions; and in the Feature Film Festival, with four films chosen from no less than 44 candidates. The Classroom Screening had 2 productions from universities, courses and workshops; the Midnight Sessions had performances by people linked to the CEN 2007 production and jury; and we also had the workshops of editing and cinematographic criticism and the debates that follow each session.
But in addition to a broad and well-thought-out panorama of contemporary Brazilian audiovisual production, CEN 2007 legitimizes its intention this year through the MOSTRA IDENTIFIQUE-SE [IDENTIFY YOURSELF Screening]! The screening, called MID in short, brings films from all periods to show that it is not technology or sponsorship that makes a film a relevant and unforgettable work, but perhaps the willingness and courage to dare to take new paths.
MID's eight feature films and seven shorts represent the four words that always guide CineEsquemaNovo - Creativity, Innovation, Surprise, and Experimentation. These words grow from these virtues (at least for us) to become timeless films. As an example of “Iracema, uma Transa Amazônica”, from 1974, which mixes elements of documentary and fiction in an innovative way, before this practice was an almost unnoticed resource, so usual, in the recent productions of the planet.
These are films that have influenced many generations and continue to influence, insofar as they stand as Resistance to pasteurized production, which are absent of risks, ready for consumption. We do not condemn this practice, but we've got another point of view over here!
We can watch “Crime Delicado”, from 2005, which is as innovative as “O Despertar da Besta”, from 1969. The link between these films is the same, regardless of theme or production period: the cinema of a personality that transcends the simple intention of making a “good” film - at least, in our opinion. Who knows...
Maybe the transcendence is also in “Mato Eles?”. And language innovation, in “Ilha das Flores”. And the best use of all the formulas of an ever daring cinema, horror, in “Amor Só de Mãe”.
In this program, we sought an excerpt from the history of Brazilian cinema that represents the concepts of CEN, and thus we were able to confirm the imagined and sometimes the forgotten: that this identity is multiple, as well as our culture. With this section, we want to stimulate reflection on our cinematography (which will effectively happen with the DEBATE IDENTIFY YOURSELF!) and appraise films that have always been around us, causing us to want more: courageous films that dialogue with different cultures, that encourage audiences and filmmakers to want to experiment.
PARALLEL PROGRAMME CEN
Classroom Screening: competitive exhibition (popular jury) that screened 21 short films produced in film teaching institutions. The following productions were screened at the Classroom Screening: “A Estória da Figueira”, by Julia Zakia; “Balada de um Filme Pornográfico”, by Anita da Silveira; “Crisálidas”, by Fernando Mendes; “Inah”, by Alvaro Magalhães; “Machina Sapiens”, by Gabriel Klein; “Trem Fantasma”, by Sérgio Gomes; “Um Filme Chamado Sfincter”, by Zeca Brito; and others.
Identify yourself!: a section that brought together a series of films that dared to take new paths, at different times: “O Despertar da Besta (Ritual dos Sádicos)”, by José Mojica Marins; “Amor só de Mãe”, by Dennison Ramalho; “Iracema, uma Transa Amazônica”, by Jorge Bodanzky and Orlando Senna; “Couro de Gato”, by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade; “Todas as Mulheres do Mundo”, by Domingos de Oliveira; “O Reino Azul”, by Otto Guerra, José Maia, Lancast Mota and Eloar Guazzelli Filho; “O Veneno da Madrugada”, by Ruy Guerra; “Ilha das Flores”, by Jorge Furtado; “Baile Perfumado”, by Lírio Ferreira e Paulo Caldas; “Rota ABC”, by Francisco César Filho”; “Crime Delicado”, by Beto Brant; “Mato Eles?”, by Sérgio Bianchi; “Serras da Desordem”, by Andrea Tonacci; “Copacabana Mon Amour”, by Rogério Sganzerla; and “Um Trailer Americano”, by José Eduardo Belmonte.
Midnight Screening: features 19 films (short and long) out of competition, among them “Deu pra ti anos 70”, by Nelson Nadotti and Giba Assis Brasil; “Olho por Olho” and “Bla Bla Bla…”, by Andrea Tonacci; “Senda de Vitórias”, by Stu Konigsberg”; “Santa de Casa”, by Allan Sieber; “Asas, Sombras, Bicos e Unhas de Sonhos”, by Beto Brant; “Quintana Inventa o Mundo”, by Camila Gonzatto and Frederico Pinto; and “Diário do Viralata”, by Julio Andrade.
Workshops: Film Criticism, by Ruy Gardnier; and Film Editing, by Cristina Amaral.
World Premiere: “Baixio das Bestas”, feature film by Cláudio Assis (PE).
OFFICIAL JURY AWARDS [Andrea Tonacci (SP), Ruy Gardnier (RJ), Fábio Zimbres (RS), Luiz Roque (RS) and Marta Biavaschi (RS)]
Special Jury Award
“Le Même Chapeau Que Toi” - “The Same Hat As Yours”, by Heron Ferreira (Belgium - Digital Photo Camera - 14'50 '')
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: For the concise and delicate record of a healing process, for the format of the film-journal as an intimate aspect of cinematographic making.
and also:
“Material Bruto”, by Ricardo Alves Jr. (MG - Mni-DV and FotoDig - 18min). Watch here.
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: “The sun will shine once more”. For the establishment of a relationship between spectator and characters that, in few and surprising shots, puts our perceptions of normality in check.
Best Film (Short and Medium)
“IGRREV”, by Carlosmagno Rodrigues (MG - Mini-DV -15 ′ 37 ”)
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: “Buy a camera”. For the intervention carried out in the space of the exercise of believing, for the perceptual bombardment operated by the cut, and for the cultural and political provocation. Watch: [vimeo http://vimeo.com/19755331]
Technical Experimentation in Direction
“Eletrodoméstica”, by Kleber Mendonça Filho (PE - 35mm -22'38 ”)
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: “The sweet technological life”. For the excellence in the use of cinematographic language in the construction of the imaginary of a character that makes her everyday life delirious.
Technical Experimentation in Artistic Conception
“Éternau”, by Gustavo Jahn (RS - 16mm - 21min).
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: "Decipher me or I will devour you". For the invitation to adventure, in a kaleidoscope of iconographic and cinematographic references, overlapping eras and different art forms.
Technical Experimentation in Drawing
“Eu Sou Como o Polvo”, by Sávio Leite (MG - Mni-DV - 4min)
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: For the materialization of the expression of the personality of Lourenço Mutarelli in the composition of a self-portrait.
Best Performance
Otávio Terceiro, actor in “América - O Grande Acerto de Vespúcio”, by Rogério Sganzerla (SP - Hi8 - 27min)
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: “Damn fog!”. For the power of improvisation and play in the search for the construction of a character from summary staging data.
Best Real Character
Ivanildo, the director portrayed in the film “O Fazedor de Filmes”, by Arthur Lins and Ely Marques (PB - Mini-DV - 11'20 ”)
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: For the captivating energy, for the dedication to the craft of cinema, and for the belief in the philosophy of “making mistakes until getting it right”.
New Criticism Award - Best Feature Film (by the students of the Film Criticism Workshop)
“Selva do Meu Desejo”, by Roberto Athayde (RJ - 135min - Mini-DV and FotoDig)
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: For the unpretentious ethnographic portrait of the North / Northeast and the extrapolation of the documentary formats limits, by its fictional tone, the film reveals, through a look without stereotypes, a real Brazil along the trans-Amazon.
CineEsquemaNovo Trophy (by the CEN crew)
- 1st Prize: CRISTINA AMARAL - coordinator of the Workshop on Editing
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: For her spontaneous contribution to all the festival's activities, for her presence at the screenings, for the ideas and experiences she conveyed to the students and to us, going far beyond her participation in the workshop.
- 2nd Prize: To All Directors from other States who traveled to Porto Alegre for CEN 2007
JURY’S JUSTIFICATION: For the surprise and motivation brought by their presence, presenting and debating the films, discussing all the possibilities of cinema and feeding our discussion about new directions for Brazilian audiovisual production.
POPULAR JURY AWARDS
Best Film (Feature)
“Conceição - Autor Bom é Autor Morto”, by Daniel Caetano, André Sampaio, Guilherme Sarmiento, Samantha Ribeiro and Cynthia Sims (RJ - 16mm and 35mm - 78min) - average: 8,549
Best Film (Short and Medium)
- 1st place: “Um Fazedor de Filmes”, by Arthur Lins and Ely Marques (PB - Mini-DV) - average: 9.177
- 2nd Place: “Eletrodoméstica”, by Kleber Mendonça Filho (PE, 35mm- 22'38”) - average: 9,021
Classroom Screening (Mostra Sala de Aula)
- 1st Place: “Um Filme Chamado Sfincter”, by Zeca Brito (RS - 15'30 '' - UNISINOS / RS -2006 / Mini-DV) - average: 9.04
- 2nd Place: “Trem Fantasma”, by Sérgio Gomes (MG - 16 min - Uma Centro Universitário -UNA / MG - 2006 / Mini-DV) - average: 8.96
