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Filmmaker Marianna Brennand notes that familial abuse is something ”that starts happening really subtly.” No one really believes that someone “that you trust and is so close to you, someone that should be protecting you” could be capable of sexually abusing you.

The stark topic of child sexual abuse is at the core of Brennand’s film Manas, set on Marajó Island where the Amazon empties into the Atlantic.

Manas is the result of eight years of research where she and colleagues interviewed young girls and their families “about this very specific reality that happens in the north of Brazil,” she explains, “in this very specific social, political, economical context. But sexual violence happens everywhere, and familial abuse happens next door to us.”

The film’s screenplay was shaped and written by Felipe Sholl, Marcelo Grabowsky, Brennand, Antonia Pellegrino, Camila Agustini and Carolina Benevides.

On Sunday night, Brennand will be...

Matchbox Films has acquired all rights in the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to the Brazilian LGBTQ+ romantic thriller “Streets of Gloria,” the latest feature by Felipe Sholl. Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal brokered the deal.

“Streets of Gloria” was sold to Dark Star Pictures for North America, as previously announced.

The fast-paced and emotionally-charged film had its world premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia last year, followed by a screening at the Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney, Australia.

The film follows Gabriel, a young literature teacher, who has just moved to Rio. He discovers The Glória, a neighborhood bar and cruising spot, where he soon becomes friends with the magnetic owner, Monica. When he meets Adriano, a male escort, the chemistry between them is explosive, sparking a passionate and tumultuous love affair. One day Adriano suddenly disappears, and Gabriel begins a journey of...

US outfit Dark Star Pictures has snapped up North American rights to Streets Of Glória, the second feature by Brazilian filmmaker Felipe Sholl, from Berlin-based sales agent m-appeal.

The deal comes ahead of the film’s world premiere at next month’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it plays in the Critics’ Picks competition.

Billed as a ‘queer, steamy’ love story, Streets Of Glória starsCaio Macedo as young literature teacher Gabriel, who has just moved to Rio de Janeiro. He discovers The Glória, a neighbourhood bar and cruising spot, where he meets male escort Adriano (Alejandro Claveaux). The chemistry between them is explosive but,...

US outfit Dark Star Pictures has snapped up North American rights to Streets of Glória, the second feature by Brazilian filmmaker Felipe Sholl.

The deal comes ahead of the film’s world premiere at next month’s Black Nights Film Festival, where it plays in Critics’ Picks competition. World sales are handled by Berlin-based M-Appeal.

Billed as a ‘queer, steamy’ love story, Streets of Glória starsCaio Macedo as young literature teacher Gabriel, who has just moved to Rio. He discovers The Glória, a neighbourhood bar and cruising spot, where he meets male escort Adriano (Alejandro Claveaux). The chemistry between them is explosive but,...

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Poff) has selected 10 world premieres for its Critics’ Picks section, including titles from Italy, Bhutan and Kazakhstan.

Three of the features hail from Italy, including Vincenzo Alfieri’s crime thriller The Body, in which an inspector begins to question whether the businesswoman whose death he is investigating is really dead.

Scroll down for the full list of Tallinn Critics’ Picks titles

Starring Claudia Gerini and Giuseppe Battiston, it is produced by Roberto Proia with Columbia Pictures Industries handling world sales.

The section will open with Paolo Marinou-Blanco’s Dreaming Of Lions, which was previously presented...

The trailer (above) has launched for Marianna Brennand’s “Manas,” which has its world premiere in Venice Days, a sidebar to the Venice Film Festival. Bendita Film Sales is handling world sales on the film, which is backed by award-winning filmmakers Walter Salles and the Dardenne Brothers.

The film is set on the island of Marajó in the Amazon rainforest. Marcielle lives near the riverbank with her father, mother and three siblings. Prompted by her mother’s words, she idolizes her older sister who supposedly escaped her reality by “finding a good man” on the barges that ply the region.

As Tielle matures, her idealized visions shatter, leaving her trapped between two abusive environments. Increasingly worried about her younger sister and the bleak future they face, she decides to confront the oppressive system that controls her family and the women in their community.

Bendita’s Luis Renart said: “‘Manas’ is a haunting experience.

Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal has boarded queer Brazilian sex worker tale “Streets of Glória,” and will present the film to buyers during the upcoming European Film Market. The project is described as “an uninhibited portrayal of passion and sex work, and a journey toward self-acceptance.”

Brazilian writer-director Felipe Sholl’s second feature, produced by Daniel van Hoogstraten of Syndrome Films in Brazil, was presented at Ventana Sur in Primer Corte, a work-in-progress section, and has already garnered attention for its provocative narrative and emotionally charged performances.

The film follows the story of Gabriel (Caio Macedo), a young literature teacher, who has just moved to Rio. He discovers The Glória, a bar and cruising spot in Rio’s neighborhood Glória, where he soon becomes friends with the magnetic owner Monica (Diva Menner) and is introduced to her tight-knit group of friends: Laila (Jade Sassará), Mateus (Alan Ribeiro) and Roger (Sandro Aliprandini...

A chaotic and bittersweet love affair meets a compelling journey toward radical self acceptance in Brazilian writer-director Felipe Sholl’s second feature, “Glória,” which screens as part of Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte strand on Wednesday in Buenos Aires.

Produced by Daniel van Hoogstraten at Brazil’s Syndrome Films, the plot follows bereft literature professor Gabriel as he moves to Río in an attempt to escape his close minded family after the death of his grandmother. There, he meets the enigmatic Monica (Diva Menner) who owns the neighborhood bar and becomes fast friends with regulars Mateus (Alan Ribeiro), Roger (Sandro Aliprandini) and Laila (Jade Sassará), who moonlight as sex workers. Quickly devoured by a tumultuous relationship with reclusive Uruguayan transplant Adriano, his sense of intimacy and care is distorted as he tries to contort into versions of himself that quickly prove futile.

With grace the themes are sewn together into...

Backed by the Cannes Film Market and Argentina’s Incaa film agency, the 15th Ventana Sur and its much anticipated works in progress sections, Primer Corte and Copia Final, unspool over Nov. 27-Dec. 1 in Buenos Aires.

This year’s crop of films, either in post-production or completed, make scant reference to the region’s brutal historical past, perhaps with the exception of “Pepe” by Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, which begins with the capture of drug lord Pablo Escobar who sowed terror and chaos for years in Colombia, or José María Cabral’s “Tiguere,” set in a ‘90s Dominican Republic.

In contrast, they focus more on human interest stories as in the territorial dispute in “El Casero”; family clashes in “November” and “Una casa con dos perros” – also a reference to Argentina’s economic crisis – as well as issues of identity and intergenerational relationships.

In Mexican filmmaker Rigoberto Perezcano’s poignant black-and-white drama,...

Lucía Puenzo, Julio Hernández Cordón among participants

Six female directors and 11 female producers development projects in this year’s Proyecta co-production programme organised by Ventana Sur and San Sebastian Film Festival.

The event, set to take place in Buenos Aires on December 4, aims to match 16 feature projects at development stage from filmmakers in Latin America and Europe with financing and international distribution.

For the second consecutive year, producers will present selected projects at a pitching session to professionals from the international film industry, followed by a series of meetings to discuss the work and potential collaborations in greater depth.

Proyecta...

Madrid — Diego Lerman’s “Literature Teacher,” Asier Altuna’s “Karmele,” Benjamín Avila’s “The Cardinal” and Mariana Rondón’s “Zafari” will pitch at the 8th San Sebastian Europe-Latin American Co-production Forum, now firmly established as, along with Ventana Sur, the key art film meet exploring that axis.

Featuring new projects from other name auteurs from the region- Pablo Giorgelli, Neto Villalobos, for example – as well as top producers working Europe Latin American production – Tu Vas Voir, Campo Cine, Patagonik, Malbicho Cine, Tarea Fina – the Forum, running Sept.22-25, will attract most of San Sebastian’s now 2,000-plus industry delegates, while offering a glimpse of the market trends now forging the regions’ filmmaking.

Here, for starters, are three:

1.Step Up In Scale Or Mainstream Ambitions

One is a step up in scale, or move towards the mainstream. After winning the Cannes Festival’s Camera d’Or for best first feature with “Las Acacias,...

Felipe Sholl’s feature directorial debut earned top honours as the 18th edition of the Rio Film Festival concluded on Sunday night by honouring new voices of Brazilian cinema.

The Redentor awards were handed out at Espaco Cultural Bnds, where The Other End also received the best actress prize for Karine Teles, who stars in the unusual love story between a teenage boy and the female patient of his psychoanalyst mother.

The Other End explores the idea that love can be found in unexpected places with irony and lightness. Sholl dealt with a similar theme in Tá (2007), the winner of the Teddy award for best short film at Berlinale that centres on two young men who meet in a public bathroom.

A Woman And The Father, Cristiane Oliveira’s first feature, picked up three awards. Oliveira took the best director award, while the young newcomer Verónica Perrotta was named best supporting actress and cinematographer Heloisa Passos won the...

Felipe Sholl’s feature directorial debut earned top honours as the 18th edition of the Rio Film Festival concluded on Sunday night by honouring new voices of Brazilian cinema.

The Redentor awards were handed out at Espaco Cultural Bnds, where The Other End also received the best actress prize for Karine Teles, who stars in the unusual love story between a teenage boy and the female patient of his psychoanalyst mother.

The Other End explores the idea that love can be found in unexpected places with irony and lightness. Sholl dealt with a similar theme in Tá (2007), the winner of the Teddy award for best short film at Berlinale that centres on two young men who meet in a public bathroom.

A Woman And The Father, Cristiane Oliveira’s first feature, picked up three awards. Oliveira took the best director award, while the young newcomer Verónica Perrotta was named best supporting actress and cinematographer Heloisa Passos won the...

As revealed earlier this week, the 18th edition of the festival will feature more than 20 world premieres. Screen runs through some local highlights and previews the RioMarket.

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival (Oct 6-16) will open with the South American premiere of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, which premiered at Venice Film Festival.

The festival’s full line-up, which was revealed earlier this week, will include 20 world premieres. The majority of those are local productions selected to compete for the Redentor award (a trophy that resembles the Christ Redeemer statue, made of 35mm film pieces).

The event’s competitive strand, Premiere Brasil, will feature eight titles this year, all of which have been selected to showcase new productions in the country’s film industry.

Seven of those films are world premieres, including the most recent titles of established directors, such as Andrucha Waddington (Me, You, Them and The House of Sand), and debuts from emerging film-makers...

Top brass at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival announced on Thursday the 2016 Première Brazil selection, comprising 14 features and six documentaries.

Selections include Erico Rassi Comeback, Felipe Sholl’s The Other End and Cristiane Oliveira’s A Woman And The Father.

The 2015 Première Brazil best fiction feature winner was Gabriel Mascaro for Neon Bull, while Petra Costa and Lea Glob earned documentary honours for Olmo And The Seagull.

The festival runs from October 6-16. Click here for the line-up.

Damien Chazelle’s awards season contender La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone has been selected as the centrepiece screening at the Middelburg Film Festival in Virginia on October 22. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs will take part in a keynote conversation. The festival runs from October 20-23.Samuel Goldwyn Films and Eammon Films are partnering to distribute James Sadwith’s Coming Through The Rye, a coming-of-age film about the filmmaker’s childhood efforts to meet...