7th BRAZIL FILM FESTIVAL
Brazilian Music in the Movies

Free Brazilian features presented by the UP Film Institute in partnership with the Embassy of Brazil in Manila – Embaixada do Brasil em Manila

Feb 1 Thu
7:00 pm – Noel: The Samba Poet

Director: Ricardo Van Steen

Duration: 100 min

Genre: Drama

Synopsis: Noel Rosa is a funny guy who likes samba duels and improvising sarcastic poems for his friends. A middle-class white guy that studies medicine and circulates through radios and cabarets of Rio de Janeiro. The irreverent Samba Philosopher sidesteps his professors, family and even the police to live an intense life.

SIMONAL: NO ONE KNOWS HOW TOUGH IT WAS (2009)
Director: Claudio Manoel, Micael Langer, Calvito Leal,
Duration: 98 min
Genre: Documentary
A documentary about the life, the controversial career and the decline of one of the greatest Brazilian singers and showmen: Wilson Simonal. In the late 1960’s, Simonal becomes a potent singer and performer, breaking racial barriers, presenting TV shows, appearing in commercials and movies. His popularity gets bigger each year, even appearing in a duet with Sarah Vaughan and having one of his songs getting a Stevie Wonder cover. In 1971, however, his career takes an abrupt fall as he gets involved in a scandal.

GONZAGA: FROM FATHER TO SON (2012)
Director: Breno Silveria
Duration: 120min
Genre: Drama
The film follows the rise of Luiz Gonzaga, from his humble beginnings in northeastern Brazil, his determination, his unpreparedness and lack of training to deal with fame, and his emotional distance from his son, who would also become a famous singer. The movie is a remarkable portrait of two generations of talented musicians and their attempt to develop an honest father-son relationship.