After a modest presence in Berlin during much of the 1990s - a direct result of the crisis in the Brazilian production sector - Brazil is back in town with three films. Central do Brasil in competition; The Battle of Canudos in the Panorama; and the short, O pulso. The trio confirm, if any confirmation was needed, that Brazil has returned in strength to the international scene.
Last year Brazil competed in Berlin with Bruno Barreto's Four Days in September, now nominated for an Academy Award as one of the five best foreign language pictures of 1997, which was supported by the Brazil Series in the Forum which screened a selection of eight new Brazilian titles.
Historically there has always been a strong relationship between the Berlin Film Festival and Brazilian filmmakers, especially during the era of the cinema novo. "Of all the European festivals, Berlin has always been the most curious about our filmmaking," says director Walter Lima Jr, who won a Silver Bear in 1969 for his film Brasil Ano 2000. "Berlin has been a very important introduction to Brazilian cinema, particularly the cinema novo, and in a certain way 'colonised' not only the German critics but also those from Italy and France."
"Brazilian films have generally had a happy experience in Berlin, not only in competition but in all the parallel sections and the Forum," adds Nelson Pereira dos Santos, who has had three films - Como era gostoso o meu francês (1971), Tenda dos Milagres (1977) and A terceira margem do Rio (1994) - in competition. Asked to compare Berlin to Cannes, Pereira dos Santos says a comparison is almost impossible. "They are very different festivals. While Cannes is linked more to the market, Berlin maintains a strong tradition of debate which has served not only Brazilian and Latin American filmmakers, but also those from East Europe."
The vocation for debate is confirmed by Lucia Murat who screened Doces Poderes in the Brazil Series last year. "The presentation and presence of eight Brazilian filmmakers at a time of recovery for the Brazilian film industry demonstrated Berlin's great sensibility for a national cinema that had all but disappeared. The high point of the Brazilian presence was, without doubt, the quality of the debate. I believe that the festival, particularly the sessions in the Forum, is the only one which retains space for such discussion."
Debate apart, Brazilian cinema can boast a number of prizes won over the years in Berlin such as the Silver Bears won by Ruy Guerra's Os fuzis in 1964; Arnaldo Jabor's Toda nudez será castigada in 1973; and Ruy Guerra and Nelson Xavier's A queda in 1978. Two Brazilian actresses have won Silver Bears. Marcelia Cartaxo in 1986 for her performance in Suzana Amaral's A hora de estrela and Ana Beatriz Nogueira, who the following year won for her performance in Sergio Toledo's Vera. There was also Jorge Furtado's radically original short, A ilha das Flores, which won a Silver Bear in 1990.
Having participated twice in the festival, the last time with Dias melhores virão in 1990, director Carlos Diegues remembers that even without winning a prize, Berlin was the starting point for the film to travel the world. While questioning the possible "over focusing on films in competition", Diegues notes that "the selection in Berlin is between the intellectual excesses of Venice and the extreme diversity of Cannes."
Each director has their own personal memories and views of Berlin. Lima Jr, for example, thinks that while Cannes and Venice generally open a space for Brazil's most "illustrious directors", Berlin has also been receptive to newcomers. Lima does have one preoccupation, however. "Unfortunately the European critics still make many demands on Brazilian filmmakers to follow the cinema novo, with auteur films based on political and social themes. Perhaps Central do Brasil will live up to these expectations."
Pereira dos Santos, considered the "father of cinema novo", is sad not to be in Berlin this year but applauds the presence of Central do Brasil in competition. "After our film industry was paralysed at the beginning of the 1990s, we have returned to the practice of filmmaking. Central do Brasil symbolises this return from both the point-of-view of aesthetics and content."
Susana Schild
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