DOCNOW FESTIVAL After two years of intense creative work, the time has come for the emerging artists and graduate students from Ryerson’s Documentary Media (MFA) program to showcase their projects to the Toronto community and the world. From May 1st to July 14th, the DOCNOW festival will present viewers with an innovative collection of diverse works, which challenge the meaning and methods of contemporary documentary practice, from filmmaking to mixed-media installations.  DOCNOW’s 31 participating artists offer audiences an intimate look at a range of current issues—from a film confronting...


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Brazilian vocalist FERNANDA CUNHA, featuring   jazz guitarist REG SCHWAGER , bassist PAT COLLINS and multi-instrumentalist TOM SZCZESNIAK September 4th (Wednesday) and 5th (Thursday) -  Jazz Bistro   Brazilian singer Fernanda Cunha (based in Sao Paulo), has been a regular performer in Canada since 2005.  She has performed coast-to-coast-to-coast:  from Vancouver Island and the Vancouver International Jazz Festival (several years), to the Alianait Arts Festival in Nunavut and Jazz Yukon series; from the Edmonton International Jazz Festival to the University of Toronto, The Jazz Room in Kitchener,...


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Morro dos Prazeres - Hill of Pleasures By Ingrid Coifman In Hill of Pleasures (Morro dos Prazeres), sixth long documentary by director Maria Ramos, looks at the process of pacification of one of Rio de Janeiro’s poorest slums from the perspective of six main characters: a local postman, a teenager with a history of involvement in drug dealing, a bookseller, and three police officers. Ramos captures to the big screen the daily tensions between residents and the new police force while portraying the obstacles on the road to reconciliation. Co-presented by Brazil Film Fest, the documentary...


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DOCUMENTARY  ELENA Co-presented with BRAFFTV – Brazilian Film and TV Festival. By Ingrid Coifman Film director and actress Petra Costa brings her documentary “Elena” to the Hot Docs 2013, following other successful international screenings and awards such as Audience Award & Best Documentary at the 45th Brasilia Film Festival 2012, Special Mentions at the 9th ZagrebDox International Competition and the 28th Guadalajara Film Festival, and Best Documentary Feature at Films de Femmes 2013. The story is about Elena, a young Brazilian woman who travels to New York with the same...


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2012 Brazil Film Fest - Captains of the Sands (Capitaes de Areia) premiered in Toronto By Ingrid Coifman Photos by Teresa Oliveira   Captains of the Sands (Capitaes de Areia) premiered in Toronto during the 2012 Brazil Film Fest, after taking home top honors for Best Film at the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival. The film, which is a co-production between Brazil and Portugal, is based on the 1937’s best seller by Brazilian writer Jorge Amado, one of the country’s most prestigious authors and also the director’s grandfather. The storyline follows the life and adventures of several...


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6th edition of Brazil Film Fest opens October 18th  By Ingrid Coifman The 6th edition of Brazil Film Fest opens this Thursday, October 18th, at 7pm, bringing film-director Cecília Amado, granddaughter of acclaimed Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado, for the Canadian Premiere of her Captains of the Sand, winner of top prize at this year’s Los Angeles Brazilian Film Fest. Based on a best-seller novel by Jorge Amado, the film presents a gang of street kids living in Salvador city and committing petty thefts and sophisticated mansion robberies. Abandoned by all, they survive together based...


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BRAFFTV 2012 “Xingu” opens the Festival   By Ingrid Coifman BRAFFTV 2012 (Brazilian Film & Television Festival of Toronto) opening gala will bring Cao Hamburger’s Xingu to Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in the evening of October 11th. The story, which takes place in 1943, recounts the saga of three brothers set out into the center of the country seeking adventure. Armed with an insatiable curiosity, they befriend a village of Xingu Indians, and together they build an airstrip to bring modernity to this ancient place. Also in the program, on October 11th, at 3pm, there will be a Master...


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Brazilian Film & Television Festival of Toronto Selton Melo’s “The Clown” premieres in Canada By Ingrid Coifman The 6th edition of BRAFFTV (Brazilian Film & Television Festival of Toronto) will screen 35 Brazilian films produced in the last two years from October 11th to 14th at Carlton Cinema in Toronto. During the competitive exhibition, the public can watch celebrated productions including Corações Sujos (Dirty Hearts), O Palhaço (The Clown), Dois Coelhos (Two Rabits), Rock Brasília, Estamos Juntos (We are Together), and Reflexões de um Liquidificador (Reflections of a Blender). The...


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 Brazilian Film ‘Once Upon a Time Was I’, Veronica premieres at TIFF 2012     By Ingrid Coifman The premiere of Once Upon a Time Was I, Veronica, brought Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes to TIFF 2012. The film portrays Veronica, a newly graduated student from medical school, born and raised in downtown Recife, in Northeastern Brazil. Veronica is undergoing a crucial time in life, a period full of uncertainties about her professional choices, her most intimate relationships, and her ability to grow mature into adult life. “I was eager to develop a story about the young, urban, mid-class...


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Toronto International Film Festival The Great Kilapy brings Lazaro Ramos as a big swindler by Ingrid Coifman Angolan director Zeze Gamboa's second feature is set in the mid-1970s, on the eve of Angola's independence from Portugal. The Great Kilapy (or more literally, ‘The Big Swindle’) tells the story of Joao Fraga (Brazilian actor Lazaro Ramos), a crooked but irresistible bon vivant and womanizer who slips into a life of crime in order to support his affluent lifestyle, becoming a legend amongst its people. The film premiered at the TIFF 2012 and is based on a real-life figure,...


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