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"Why is the foreman so intent on finding you?" The Match Factory has released an official promo / sales trailer for a Spanish indie film titled Out in the Open, also known as Intemperie in Spanish. Adapted from a novel by Jesús Carrasco, the film is a Spanish fable set in an "Old West" tyrannical and oppressive version of Spain filled with misery and poorness, following a boy who runs away to find freedom. It's the story of a friendship between a boy who undertakes a journey through the desert fleeing from the relentless foreman of the town, and a Goatherd who has long lived outside society. Starring Jaime López as the boy, with Luis Callejo, Luis Tosar, Vicente Romero, Kandido Uranga, Juanjo Pérez Yuste, Adriano Carvalho, and Manolo Caro. This premiered at the Valladolid Film Festival last year, and also played at the Glasgow & Miami Film Festivals this year but...

From its very first moments, Vazante makes its intentions apparent. Captured in black and white imagery that is preoccupied with draining any possibility of color from its quiet, slow-moving landscape, the film is set in and around a remote cattle ranch in Brazil. The year is 1821 and the overall tone is firmly established by a stern and taciturn man named Antonio (Adriano Carvalho), the owner of the ranch and solemn ruler of all he surveys. With newly-acquired African slaves in tow and his men properly cowed, Antonio is returning from a long trip away, anticipating that his wife will have given birth to their son by the time he returns. We, the audience, already know that tragedy awaits him, since we've witnessed the death...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Chicago – A vital and obscure piece of Brazilian history is exposed in the new film “Vazante,’ directed by Daniela Thomas, and is the latest film to be distributed by Music Box Films of Chicago. “Vazante” is now playing at the Music Box Theatre through February 8th, 2018. For more information, click here.

The film is a stark-but-cinematic (in black and white) treatment of a difficult subject in Brazil’s history… the trading and keeping of African slaves. In 1821, a trader named Antonio (Adriano Carvalho) comes back to his remote plantation to discover his wife has died in labor. Left with his mother-in-law and slaves to care for, he takes as his new wife 12-year-old Beatriz (Luana Nastas), the daughter of his deceased wife’s brother. As he slowly begins his trade business again, his new bride is more interested in the slave community – and a boy (Vinicius Dos Anjos as Virgilio...

One of 2018’s most anticipated films is director Lucrecia Martel’s return to the big screen, Zama. A brilliant film about a myriad of things from class to colonialism, Martel’s picture is one of great cinematic experimentation, a period piece of expert craftsmanship and deep thematic resonance. And many of these same things can be said for a film very much in conversation (albeit coincidental) with it and Martel’s work broadly, Daniela Thomas’ Vazante.

After years of working in shorts and alongside director Walter Salles, Thomas marks her feature directorial debut with this breathtaking piece of filmmaking, a widescreen period piece shot in contrast-heavy black and white and with some top tier performances at her disposal. Vazante tells the story of Antonio, a trader in 1820’s Brazil who returns home to discover that his wife lost her life while giving birth. This sends Antonio’s life into a spiral,...

Vazante Music Box Films Director: Daniela Thomas Screenwriter: Daniela Thomas, Beto Amaral Cast: Adriano Carvalho, Luana Nastas, Sandra Corveloni, Juliana Carneiro Da Cunha Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 1/6/18 Opens: January 12, 2018 1821 was a very good year—if you were King George IV of England—but not if you were born or shipped to Brazil […]

The post Vazante Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

The Berlin International Film Festival has revealed the first 11 titles in its Panorama section, including Raoul Peck’s “I Am Not Your Negro,” the James Schamus-produced “Casting JonBenet” and Daniela Thomas’ “Vazante.” John Trengrove’s “The Wound” will open the section.

Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup

The festival says two prominent themes have emerged among the films. The first involves “Reclaiming Black History” or “a fresh historically reflective approach to the history of black people in North America, South America and Africa”; and the second is “Europa Europa,” or “how progressive forces might best defend themselves in light of a zeitgeist that makes it seem as if yesterday never went away.”

The Panorama titles are listed below with synopses and divided by theme. The festival will run from February 9 through 17.

In Focus: Reclaiming Black History

“Vazante” (Daniela Thomas, Brazil/Portugal); with Adriano Carvalho,...

This article was produced as part of the Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring journalists at the Locarno Film Festival, a collaboration between the Locarno Film Festival, IndieWire and the Film Society of Lincoln Center with the support of Film Comment and the Swiss Alliance of Film Journalists. The following interview, conducted by a member of the Critics Academy, focuses on a participant in the affiliated Filmmakers Academy program at the festival.

In “Doce Lar,” the muted debut short from Nuno Baltazar, a weathered man lives alone in a crumbling prison, afraid of all that lies outside and depending only on himself to survive. The Lisbon-born Baltazar is similarly self-sufficient: in addition to writing and directing “Doce Lar,” Baltazar edited and produced the film. The decision to be a total filmmaker has it’s roots in deciding to start making movies after several years working as graphic designer.

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