LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY
A film by José Araújo
The struggle of the peasants of the Sert‹o against the Dragon in the backlands of Brazil 35 mm, fiction, black and white, 101 minutes
SYNOPSIS
LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY portrays the lives and mystical visions of the inhabitants of the Sert‹o (arid backlands) of Northeastern Brazil. Life for the Sertanejo is transformed into a pilgrimage between many spaces: from the exterior, urban coastal cities to the interior, rural countryside; from the exterior body to the interior soul. The film weaves folklore, songs and apocalyptic visions as the peasants of the Sert‹o struggle against the Dragon, the mythic enemy of the people. It recalls the peasant's resistance against harsh natural elements and corrupt socio-political conditions. The Sertanejos overcome their material poverty through their sense of dignity and work on the land. It is, in the end, the "landscape" that reveals the story of the people.
More detailed informaton.
BIOGRAPHY
I have been working and studying film for the past twenty-five years. I was born and raised in the rural part of Northeast Brazil. I studied to become a priest from the ages of nine to sixteen at a Catholic Seminary in Fortaleza, Brazil. I attended Ceará State University where I studied Brazilian and Portuguese literature and Romance languages. In 1973, I left Brazil during the military dictatorship to study film in the U.S. at San Francisco State University where I received a B.A. and M.A. in Cinema.
In 1981 I returned to Brazil to make my own films and to work as sound recordist for Brazilian and German productions throughout South America. I have worked as a sound mixer for a number of producers and directors including, Percy Adlon, Francis Ford Coppola and Gregory Nava.
In 1984 I directed and produced a documentary, SALVE UMBANDA (Hail Umbanda) about the Afro-Brazilian religion of Umbanda. The film premiered at the Margaret Mead Film Festival and screened in festivals and television around the world.
In 1991 I began to shoot O SERTÃO DAS MEMÓRIAS (Landscapes of Memory) my first feature length fiction film. The film is an essay of the life and visions of the Sertanejos or inhabitants of the Sert‹o, the drought ridden region of Brazil. The film was co-produced by Michelle Yasmine Valladares, shot by prize winning Brazilian cinematographer, Antonio Luiz Mendes and has an original music score by world renowned percussionist Nana Vasconcelos. It had its world premiere at the 1996-Toronto Film Festival, it has won "The Best Latin American film Award" at Sundance-1997 and the prestigious "Wolfgang Staudte Prize" at the Forum of the Berlin Festival-1997. It has received many other awards in Europe and Brazil and it was at the Film Comment list of the Best 150 Foreign Films of the nineties.
FILMOGRAPHY - (Writer, Producer and Director)
MISERERE NOBIS
Experimental, 10 mins, 1978
UNA FAMILIA MEXICANA 14 AÑOS DESPUÉS
Documentary, 30 mins, 1980
SALVE A UMBANDA/HAIL UMBANDA
Documentary, 46 mins, 1987
O SERTÃO DAS MEMÓRIAS/LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY
Fiction, 96 mins, 1996
THE LIFE, WORK AND RESSURRECTION OF LUIZ GONZAGA, THE KING OF BAIĚO
Documentary, 90 mins, in progress
THE TEMPTATIONS OF SAINT SEBASTIAN
Fiction, 100 mins, in-progress
LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY
by JosŽ Araśjo has participated in the following festivals and won the following prizes.
World Premiere - 1996 Toronto International Film Festival
Best Latin American Film - 1997 Sundance Film Festival
Wolfgang Staudte Prize and Opening Film - International
Forum of New Cinema, 1997 Berlin Film Festival
Runner-up Grand Jury Prize and Honorable Mention - 1997
Fribourg Film Festival, Switzerland
Jury Award - Recontres Cinémas D'Amérique Latine De Toulouse, France
Grand Jury Award and Audience Award - 7th Cine Ceara Festival, Fortaleza Brazil
Opening Film - Cinesul 97, 4th Latin American Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Opening Film - New Films from Brazil, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York.
Silver Daisy Prize - National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil
(Humanitarian Award of Catholic Church)
Included on FILM COMMENT's 150 BEST UNRELEASED FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS OF THE NINETIES, July/August, 1997
Selected
Theatrical Release - Brazil, July 1997
THE LIFE, WORK AND RESSURRECTION OF LUIZ GONZAGA, THE KING OF BAIÃO
Documentary, 90 mins, in progress
THE TEMPTATIONS OF SAINT SEBASTIAN
Fiction, 100 mins, in-progress
