Brazil in limelight at Beijing International Film Festival
Keen to explore the world of Brazilian cinema, movie enthusiast Dai Jiakun was bursting with excitement recently as she attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing International Film Festival’s Brazil Film Week.
“I’ve never been to Latin America, but I’ve heard a lot of high praise of the movie Pictures of Ghosts, so, I deliberately chose to see this Brazilian movie at this year’s festival,” she says.
For many Chinese viewers like Dai, samba dances by prominent Brazilian artists from the other side of the globe are becoming increasingly intriguing.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil, and the Beijing International Film Festival invited Brazil as the guest country. A Brazilian Film Week was organized as part of the festival, bringing four outstanding films to audiences.
Carlos Saldanha is a member of the international jury for the festival’s Tiantan Awards this year. The renowned Brazilian codirected the animated movie series Ice Age for Blue Sky Studios in the United States, which brought in combined box-office revenues in excess of $3 billion.
“I am very happy to see my movies screened in China. I have witnessed the huge potential of China’s film market,” he says, deeply impressed by the surging enthusiasm of Chinese audiences for Brazilian movies.
In recent years, thanks to the strong promotion by the governments of both countries, film and television cooperation between China and Brazil has deepened.
In April 2023, during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s visit to China, the two countries announced the signing of an agreement on cooperation in television production. Films coproduced by Brazilian and Chinese companies will enjoy national treatment in both countries, benefit from existing public funding mechanisms, and be considered national products in each other’s markets.
In a video message at the opening ceremony of the Brazil Film Week, Brazilian Minister of Culture Margareth Menezes said that the films showcase different aspects of Brazilian culture, and expressed the hope of presenting Brazil’s diversity to Chinese audiences through movies.
During the forum for exchanges between Chinese and international filmmakers, representatives from the Beijing International Film Festival and the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival signed a memorandum of cooperation. They agreed to establish mechanisms to encourage visits, discussions and field research, as well as to create a system for recommending films to each other, thereby enhancing filmindustry cooperation and exchange between the two countries.
Regarding the movies as an important bridge for communication between the two countries, Ilda Santiago, a Brazilian film curator and the executive director of Festival do Rio, says that the films being
showcased at the festival give a sense of the scope and breadth of Brazilian cinema.
“I hope they speak directly to the values and perhaps the challenges that are shared by all of humanity,” she says, noting that the film industries in both countries should learn from each other, complement each other’s strengths, and promote the development of the cultural industry.
“We have the mission of deepening the relationship between our peoples even further. We take this first step with audiovisual products, but it doesn’t end here,” says Cassius Rosa, vice-minister of culture of Brazil.