Thursday,
October 16 – Saturday, October 18
Directors
in Focus: Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Carnaval!:
A Celebration of South America - Global Gala 2008
 Directing
since the 1950s, Nelson Pereira dos Santos is widely considered
the father of Brazil’s Cinema Novo movement, the socially progressive
and aesthetically daring Brazilian New Wave which sought to
create a national Brazilian cinema free of foreign influence.
His films reflect the poverty and class issues of the 1960s
and 70s while retaining the humor and freshness fused together
into a national popular cinema. Pereira dos
Santos’ impact on Latin American cinema cannot be overstated.
Thursday, October 16 at 7pm
Vidas
Secas
dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazil, 1963, 35mm, 103
mins, color, Portuguese w/ English subtitles
 Often
considered dos Santos’ masterpiece, the title means “Barren
Lives”, referring to a family of migrant workers who crossed
Brazil’s northeast during the terrible drought of 1940s. Shot
in the harsh desert light, Vidas Secas gave Brazilian
cinema its own visual identity, and its uncompromising portrayals
of corrupt policemen and working-class poverty made it one of
South America’s most controversial and important films.
Friday, October
17 at 7pm
The
Amulet of Ogum (O Amuleto de Ogum)
dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazil, 1974, 35mm, 112
mins, color, Portuguese w/ English subtitles
The
genre–hopping Amulet of Ogum was an attempt to give
credence to popular religious iconography ignored by the Catholic
Church. A blind singer spins a story of a young man whose invulnerability
to bullets (thanks to the Candomble gods) lets him rise through
the ranks of the criminal underworld.
Saturday,
October 18 at 2pm
Tent
of Miracles (Tenda dos Milagres)
dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazil, 1977, 35mm, 132
mins, color, Portuguese w/ English subtitles
When
a visiting American dignitary remarks that one of the greatest
Brazilian scientists is a long forgotten janitor, the press
and scientific community rush to discover something about the
man. Within this Citizen Kane like structure is an
exploration of racism seamlessly integrated into the framework
of a taut investigative thriller.
Click
Here for Paulo
Alvares + Ensemble Noamnesia on
Sunday, October 19.
A Carnaval! Global Gala 2008 Concert.
 On
Saturday, November 1,
International House Philadelphia marks our 49th Annual
Global Gala. This year’s theme is Carnaval!:
A Celebration of South America. The celebration
will not only bring South America, particularly the countries
of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia to life for Gala
attendees, but serves as the major source of unrestricted
funding for International House. A non-profit, IHP relies on
giving to support our arts, language and residential programs.
Please join us.
For
more information and tickets, please contact Simone Jeffers
at gala2008@ihphilly.org
or 215-895-6543.
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