Movies: Jordana Berg

An overview of Brazilian spirituality and religions....

A cautionary tale for these times of democracy in crisis—the personal and political fuse to explore one of the most dramatic periods in Brazilian history. With unprecedented access to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, we witness their rise...

Simple, emotionally compelling documentary that delves into the songs that hold meaning in people's lives. It is composed of 18 sessions where the director engages his subjects in conversation about the song they picked. The end product is deeply per...

When does a democracy end and a theocracy begin? In Apocalypse in the Tropics, Petra Costa investigates the increasingly powerful grip Christian evangelical leaders hold over politics in Brazil. She gains extraordinary access to the country’s top pol...

The daily lives and routine of 37 families living in a huge 12-story building in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: their drama, aspirations, intimate revelations, loneliness, dreams......

A documentary made to coincide with Niemeyer's 100th birthday. The renowned architect talks about his long life, his inspirations, and his aspirations towards a just Brazil, and the ways he tried to help that along in his spectacular and beautiful bu...

Documentary on poor people living in a slum in Rio de Janeiro, on the occasion of New Year's Eve of 1999....

A tragic hostage case from 2008 Brazil unfolds through unseen diary entries, family interviews, and media coverage, as a 15-year-old girl is held captive by her ex-boyfriend for 100 hours while TV networks broadcast it live....

How much theatricality is there in an interview-based documentary? On one side, someone answers. On the other side, someone asks questions – usually away from the camera eyes. But what would happen if also filmed the interviewers? And if the responde...

In 2014, Andrea Beltrão, Malu Galli and Mariana Lima decide to make a theatrical spectacle. Maria Flor asks to attend the rehearsals and register with her camera the process of creating the piece. While observing the actresses on the scene and accomp...

The historical, political, and social context of Brazil in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and the impact of each decade on the life and work of the acclaimed actress Marília Pêra....

Made from interviews with young Brazilian students by filmmaker Eduardo Coutinho before his death (in February 2014), the film seeks to understand how teenagers think, live and dream nowadays. The footage was edited by Coutinho’s longtime partner, fi...

Following a newspaper ad, ordinary women tell part of their life stories to director Eduardo Coutinho, which are then re-enacted by actresses, blurring the barriers between truth, fiction and interpretation....

An accident involving a flying manhole cover leads to a chance meeting between two childhood friends: a widow and the owner of a beauty parlor. Thus begins an entertaining game of seduction that brings memories and hidden desires to the surface - fur...

As head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Brazilian diplomat José Bustani became an obstacle in America’s march to war with Iraq. Ousted from his position, he now revisits the chilling events that marked a turning point in ...

In the 1970s, "festivals" were incredibly popular in Brazil, as they were recorded before a live studio audience, and usually featured a number of elimination rounds. They also formed the springboard for the career of many a big-name stars, such as C...

Zulmira is an old mistress who lives in the neighborhood of Estacio, in Rio de Janeiro. One day she wakes up obsessed with the idea of dying. All she needs is a good coffin. A tribute to Leon Hirszman's "The Deceased", the first film starred by Ferna...

Immersive documentary in the film editing process. Twenty Brazilian cinema editors expose the nuances of this art, its secrets and processes....

After an initial meeting in 1964 interrupted by military dictatorship and a new meeting in the early 1980s to end the film "Twenty Years Later", Eduardo Coutinho once again find Elizabeth Teixeira, survivor of peasant struggles....

In 1979 and 1980, workers in São Paulo’s metallurgical industry organized a series of strikes that changed the face of union politics in Brazil. In the process, they established the groundwork for Brazil’s Worker’s Party and brought to the national s...