Brazilian Film Screening: Palavra (En)Cantada (2008)

This film won the best documentary director award for Helena Solberg at the 2008 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival. It follows the history of songs and songwriting in Brazilian music, paying particular attention to the relationship between poetry and music. The documentary draws on multiple styles – from rappers to singer-songwriters, from Carnival to favela poets – to outline Brazilian lyrical style up to the present day.

There are appearances and performances by, amongst others, Adriana Calcanhotto, Arnaldo Antunes, Chico Buarque, Ferréz, Maria Bethânia, Martinho da Vila, Tom Zé and Zélia Duncan. There is also wonderful archive footage that revisits sublime performances by Caetano Veloso and Tom Jobim. The interviews are mostly in the artists’ houses accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack of some of Brazil’s most famous musicians and poets.

Any questions, please contact Tom Winterbottom or Victoria Saramago. 

Presented by the Working Group "Brazilian Music and Film" sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies.