Evandro Soldatelli

Velinhas

Porto Alegre, nowadays. At one of the most known streets of Porto Alegre, in exactly 11´10", people pass one another, interact, go on about their and our lives. Fiction and reality working side by side and vice-versa.

Picucha may seem old-fashioned, but she has modern ideas and a great sense of humor. As the matriarch of a big family, she is involved in the daily lives of her children, grandchildren and other relatives. Undeterred by the typical problems of old age, she uses her many years of experience to solve problems in the best way possible.

A few days after his grandfather's death, young Igor decides to make a documentary about the history of his family in an attempt to understand why his grandfather, Guilhermino, was obsessed with strange facts that had happened in his city. Thus, in 1990, in the interior of the state Rio Grande do Sul, Igor and his father Nilson interview relatives, friends and people involved in the case in an attempt to undo the bad name of his grandfather, but what they find out is a part of the story of the state, unraveling mysteries related to extraterrestrials, failed space programs and a muddled mission of the Cold War.

Noite de São João

Brazil, 1961. In the underground of the Piratini Palace, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Leonel Brizola, awaits a bombing by the Brazilian armed forces. The country is on the verge of a civil war, following the resignation of president Jânio Quadros and the movement to keep vice-president João Goulart from taking office. Using the radio transmitter from his improvised bunker, Brizola sets up the Legality movement, to ensure Goulart's right to the presidential chair. Caught in the crossfire, two brothers who are in love with the same woman unite to fight alongside Brizola.

Written in 1625 by the British playwright Ben Jonson, the play “The Staple of News” provides a historic root for this discussion about the role of the press in modern day Brazil. Journalists of several generations discuss the dilemmas of the selection and focus of their subjects, the resistance of the media in accepting itself as a political agent, the inevitability of interpretation as there are no hard facts in nature, and above all the search for an always complex balance between credibility and the public’s growing demand for news.

Short film about schemers involved in Brazilian politics and how they cannot have confidence in each other. They are more violent than Italian mafia, as it was said.

1961

In the mid-1870s, Jacobina, daughter of German immigrants, became leader of a sect that believed in healing the body by cleansing the soul. After having a divine vision and speaking to Jesus, she changes her appearance and manners, disturbing the conservative population of the place. After the death of opponents of her sect, local authorities decide to take action against her and her followers.

Notas de Amor