Every Brazilian has already heard of – or thought of – that our movies are “always the same thing” with “always the same actors” and “always the same plot”. Also, many people from other countries might not have watched many Brazilian productions, only the most famous ones.
In any of those cases, these national productions are put aside even in Brazilian’s cinema rooms. In 2017, for example, there was only one national movie in the list of the 20 most watched by Brazilians.
To break the stereotypes of our films, this list was specially made for those who are willing to watch a different type of Brazilian movie, one that is not usually very commented. Therefore, the items chosen here were, preferentially, from non-mainstream directors and actors. It is important to remind that there are many famous and a lot expected Brazilian movies premiering this year that are not on this list, but the aim of this compilation is to give attention to movies that you will probably not hear much about.
- The Fourth Wall
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(Original Title: A Quarta Parede)
Director: Hudson Senna;
Cast: Tutty Mendes, Lucila Miranda Araújo, João Barletta;
Release date: May 2nd;
This drama is expected to have a lot of philosophical content, considering that it is about an actor who did not get a role in a play called “Between Four Walls”, based on Jean Paul Sartre’s play. Devastated, Teo starts using virtual platforms to manipulate his co-workers, but his actions will lead him to terrible consequences.
- The Judgement
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(Original Title: O Juízo)
Director: Andrucha Waddington;
Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Felipe Camargo, Criolo;
Release date: June 6th;
With one of the best Brazilians actresses, Fernanda Montenegro, “The Judgement” is a great option for those who love thriller movies. It is a supernatural story about an old vengeance remounting to the slavery years in Brazil, 200 years ago. It might be a nice movie to skip those classic American clichés, after all, “The Judgement” will bring a typical Brazilian tale.
- Christabel
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Director: Alex Levy-Heller;
Cast: Mila Fernandez, Julio Adrião, Nill Marcondes;
Release date: July 18th;
Based on the poem “Christabel” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Alex Levy-Heller directs the story of a rural girl who lives with her father, but her family structures and her traditional conceptions are shaken with the arrival of a mysterious woman in her house, the free Geraldine.
- Polish Girls
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(Original Title: Jovens Polacas)
Director: Alex Levy-Heller;
Cast: Emílio Orciollo Neto, Berta Loran, Jacqueline Laurence;
Release date: August 8th;
This is a movie for those who like to learn about history! “Polish girls” is based on the homonymous book by Esther Largman about a journalist researching for his Ph.D. and introducing the story of the white slaves in Rio de Janeiro, known as The Polish Girls. They were Jewish women, smuggled to Brazil, who believed they were going to get married, but actually, they were taken straight to whorehouses and forced to prostitute themselves.
- Venice
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(Original title: Veneza)
Director: Miguel Falabella;
Cast: Carmen Maura, Dira Paes, Eduardo Moscovis;
Release date: August 22nd;
This drama is about Gringa (Carmen Maura) who has the dream of going to Venice to seek forgiveness of an old lover she had abandoned long ago. She is blind and very ill, but will not give up this last dream. Fortunately, Gringa has friends willing to help her with this task and together they make a fantastic plan to take her to Venice, one of the most romantic cities in the world.
- Resistance
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(Original title: Legalidade)
Director: Zeca Brito;
Cast: Cléo Pires, Leonardo Machado, Fernando Alves Pinto;
Release date: September 12th;
For those who want to know more about Brazilian history, this is the most recommended movie of the year! In 1961, after the renouncement of the Brazilian president Jânio Quadros, some groups in the society did not want the vice-president João Goulart to take over the presidency. Fighting for the Constitution, a group called “Legality” had the governor Leonel Brizola as its leader and the plot goes around this group of people who were struggling to keep Brazil as a democracy.
- Unheard-of
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(Original title: Inaudito)
Director: Gregorio Gananian;
Cast: Lanny Gordin, Dou Hei Mu, José Roberto Aguilar;
Release date: October 10th;
This documentary explores the life of Lanny Gordin, a guitarist that made a lot of success in Brazil during the 60’s and 70’s, working with great voices such as Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. Born in China, he reveals his process and thoughts when composing.
- The Sleepwalkers
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(Original title: Os sonâmbulos)
Director: Tiago Mata Machado;
Cast: Clara Choveaux, Rômulo Braga, Camila Moreno;
Release date: November 7th;
A group of young friends feels eccentric, living clandestinely, hiding from the world that seems to be at its end. They create bonds between them to survive in this hostile environment and share the contradictions that permeates their lives: it is necessary to love human life, but existence itself is repulsive.
- Dad is cool
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(Original title: O papai é pop)
Director: Vinicius Coimbra;
Release date: November 14th;
This movie is based on the homonymous book by Marcos Piangers and is about a man raised by a single mother. As a grown up, he becomes a father of two girls, bringing up questions involving paternity. The book was a great success, having already turned into a cartoon. Now, the movie promises to be even greater!
- Lettuce Nights
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(Original Title: Noites de Alface)
Director: Zeca Ferreira;
Cast: Marieta Severo, Everaldo Pontes, Inês Peixoto;
Release date: November 21st;
Having witnessed the death of his wife Ada, Otto has trouble sleeping without the lettuce tea she used to prepare him. Now, bored with his life, all that he does is observe his weird neighbor’s routine until his observation gets more interactive than expected.