Sound of Brasil
Moro no Brasil
GERMANY, BRAZIL, FINLAND / 2002 / English, Portuguese / Color / 35mm (1:1.85) / 105 min
Director: Mika Kaurismäki
Script: Mika Kaurismäki, George Moura
Photogaphy: Jacques Cheuiche
Editing: Karen Harley
Recording Mixer: Cristiano Maciel
Sound Design: Uwe Dresch, Robert Faust
Executive Producer: Hans Robert Eisenhauer (Arte)
Producer: Phoebe Clarke
Artists: Seu Jorge, Jacinto Silva, Silvério Pessoa, Margareth Menezes, Ivo Meirelles & Funk’n Lata, Velha Guarda da Mangueira
Production Company: Magnatel TV GmbH
Source: alciné térran
World Sales: BV International Pictures
Kvalavågsveien 156, PO Box 17, N-4299 Avalsnes NORWAY
Phone: 47-52-84-64-60 Fax: 47-52-84-64-61
E-mail: post@bvfilm.com URL: www.bvfilm.com
In Moro no Brasil, Mika Kaurismäki dives into the overflowing musical diversity of Brazil. Having become very familiar with Brazil over the course of more than twelve years, Kaurismäki sets out on a 4,000 km journey to discover local, popular culture, meeting musicians, singers and dancers with an amazing diversity of musical styles, far beyond Samba or Bossa Nova. In his first real documentary film, Kaurismäki shows the people as they are. He gives them the opportunity to speak for themselves, via their amazing rhythms and especially via the lyrics of their songs, which are subtitled to bring the audience closer to the music.
[Director’s Statement] I first visited Brazil in 1988, when I was invited to the Rio Film Festival to show my movie Helsinki-Napoli. Instead of just staying one week I decided, spontaneously, to travel around Brazil, mainly through Amazonia. After shooting Amazon in 1989, Brazil became my second home. It is a very “cinematographical” country, actually a continent.
The most difficult part in making the film was deciding which musical rhythms, which musicians and which traditions to show. After several trips around the country I decided to concentrate only on the regions of the Northeast—Pernambuco and Bahia—and Rio de Janeiro. And I decided to make a personal film, that is, only to show people I had personally seen and whom I liked the most. It is for this reason that I’m the narrator of the film. But the development of the different rhythms and traditions from their indigenous origins until today are also part of the storyline. My principal idea was to start with the Indians, who were the first ones to sing and dance in Brazil, and then show how the music changed and developed when foreign cultures arrived, first Portuguese and then African and to show where it is today. This film is centered around the roots of Brazilian music; for this reason there are very few “famous” people in Moro no Brasil.
I view myself as a feature film director. But the experiences I have had with documentaries have always been very positive; somehow, you “learn” more for yourself when making a documentary. You actually “write” your movie while shooting it. Both genres are interesting, but I must say that my feature films have a lot of documentary aspects in them. They are based on real events, people, shooting locations or are influenced by reality. In this regard I am a filmmaker.
Mika KaurismäkiBorn in Orimattila, Finland in 1955. The filmmaker, producer and author studied at the University for Television and Film in Munich. In 1981 established production and distribution company with his brother, director Aki Kaurismäki. Major works include Helsinki Napoli, All Night Long (1987), Amazon (1991), Zombie and the Ghost Train (1991), awarded the Finnish Film Prize for best direction, Tigrero—A Film That Was Never Made (1994), with Sam Fuller and Jim Jarmusch, Condition Red (1995), Sambólico (1996), Los Angeles Without a Map (1998), and Highway Society (1999). Producer for Crime and Punishment (1983) and Shadows in Paradise (1986), films directed by Aki. Started the Finnish Film Festival of the Midnight Sun with Aki, and is currently director of the production company Marianna Films Oy. |
• Special Invitation Films | DV2 | Sound of Brasil | Number Zero | <In Memory of Maeda Katsuhiro> Polluted Japan, Free Kwangju | Magino Village—A Tale |