Joana Pimenta: Celebs Rumors

Marcelo Cajueiro The Rio Intl. Film Festival wrapped Monday amid political tension and with a strong local competition that awarded Marcelo Gomes’ “Paloma” the top film prize. It is based on the true story of a poor trans woman who struggled to marry her partner in a religious ceremony. Following compact editions over the past three years, Rio Fest – traditionally Latin America’s main film fest – regained part of its original size and importance, as it premiered locally about 120 features selected from the top international film fests, resumed outdoor screenings and featured a hybrid market. The highlight was Premiere Brasil, the competition of 86 features and shorts for the Redentor kudos.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary festival IDFA will host the international premieres of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” and Barbara Kopple’s “Gumbo Coalition” as part of its Masters program, as well as the world premiere of Coco Schrijber’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” The selection includes the work of several renowned directors who have reinvented their cinematic language. Patricio Guzmán breaks from his poetic approach to adopt a more direct, political form of filmmaking with “My Imaginary Country,” centering on the October 2019 protests in Santiago. Gianfranco Rosi directs his first archive-based film “In viaggio,” which sees Pope Francis’ journeys as a map of the human condition. Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed co-direct a film together for the first time with “Music for Black Pigeons,” a reflection on aging through jazz music, and Ruth Beckermann’s “Mutzenbacher” takes a look at a controversial erotic novel through an elaborate casting call.

MIDNIGHT MADNESSWeird: The Al Yankovic Story – Eric Appel | USAWorld PremiereThe Blackening – Tim Story | USAWorld PremierePearl – Ti West | USANorth American PremiereThe People’s Joker – Vera Drew | USAWorld PremiereProject Wolf Hunting – Kim Hongsun | South KoreaWorld PremiereSick – John Hyams | USAWorld PremiereSisu – Jalmari Helander | FinlandWorld PremiereVenus – Jaume Balagueró | SpainWorld PremiereV/H/S 99 – Flying Lotus, Johannes Roberts, Maggie Levin, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter | USAWorld PremiereLeonor Will Never Die – Martika Ramirez Escobar | PhilippinesCanadian PremiereWAVELENGTHSFeaturesConcrete Valley – Antoine Bourges | Canada World PremiereDe Humani Corporis Fabrica – Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor | France, SwitzerlandNorth American PremiereDry Ground Burning (Mato Seco em Chamas) – Joana Pimenta, Adirley Queirós | Portugal, BrazilNorth American PremiereHorse Opera – Moyra Davey | USAFestival PremierePacifiction – Albert Serra | France, Spain, Germany, PortugalNorth American PremiereQueens of the Qing Dynasty – Ashley McKenzie | Canada North American PremiereUnrest (Unrueh) – Cyril Schäublin | SwitzerlandNorth American PremiereWill-o’-the-Wisp (Fogo-Fátuo) – João Pedro Rodrigues | Portugal, FranceNorth American PremiereShortsAfter Work – Céline Condorelli, Ben Rivers | United KingdomNorth American PremiereBigger on the Inside – Angelo Madsen Minax | USAWorld PremiereEVENTIDE – Sharon Lockhart | USAWorld PremiereF1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now – Fox Maxy | Mesa Grande Reservation/USAFestival PremiereFata Morgana – Tacita Dean | United Kingdom, USAFestival PremiereHors-titre – Wiame Haddad | FranceNorth American PremiereI Thought the World of You – Kurt Walker | Canada North

Emiliano Granada World premiering in the Berlinale’s Forum, “Dry Ground Burning” marks the second feature collaboration between directors Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós, after Pimenta DP-ed Queirós’ “Once There Was Brasilia.”So it’s no surprise that by this point the directorial couple have refined a common language that in “Dry Ground Burning” delivers a movie that’s stylistically refrained, while walking a fine line between documentary and a fiction with sci-fi and Western overtones.Produced by Cinco Da Norte and Terratreme with Pimenta once again behind the camera, the duo returns to their portrayal of the inhabitants of Ceilandia, a district on the periphery of Brasilia which has been a recurring subject in both filmmakers work. The film follows sisters Chitarra and Léa, leaders of an all female gang who refines oil drawn from an oil pipeline to sell to motor bikers in the Sol Nascente favela.