Map taken from the website of the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies,
King’s College, London.
Films in Media related to Portuguese language and culture:
Antonio Carlos Jobim: An All-star Tribute. Videofilmes, 1994. 60 mins. Directed by
Walter Salles, Jr. Performers: Shirley Horn, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Joe Henderson, Herbie
Hancock; Gal Costa, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jon Hendricks.
From Brazil comes this musical tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994), cofounder and leading composer of the Bossa Nova. UGA Libraries Media Department:
VHS 2518.1. Not rated.
Black Orpheus = Orfeu Negro. Tupan Filmes, 1959. 98 mins. Directed by Marcel
Camus. Starring: Breno Mello (Orfeo), Marpessa Dawn (Eurydice), Lourdes de Oliveira
(Mira), Léa Garcia (Serafina), Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (Death). In Portuguese with
English subtitles.
Inspired from the play: Orfeu da conceição by Vinícius de Moraes. Eurydice, a
Brazilian country girl, arrives in Rio de Janeiro the day before the Carnival to get away
from a persistent suitor. She meets Orfeo, a black street-car driver, who is almost
worshipped by the people of the black quarter as a guitar-player and dancer. They fall in
love at first sight. At his suggestion, she takes part as a dancer in the next day's
performance. This stirs up the jealousy of Mira, Orfeo's fiancée-partner. Eurydice sees
her pursuer and seeks refuge in a street-car depot where Orfeo accidentally kills her. He
searches for and finds her in the mortuary. He carries her back to the hill where Mira and
the others he has spurned throw him over the cliff. The lovers are united in death. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 156.1 and Laser 15.1-2. Rated PG.
Bye Bye Brasil = Bye Bye Brazil. Carnaval Films, 1979. 110 mins. Directed by Carlos
Diegues. Starring: José Wilker, Betty Faria, Zaira Zambelli, Fabio Junior. Portuguese
dialogue, English subtitles.
A changing Brazil is seen through the eyes of four wandering minstrels, gypsy
actors exploring the exotic and picturesque north. Libraries Media Department: VHS
206.1. Rated R.
O cangaceiro. Vera Cruz Studios, 1953. 105 mins., in black & white. Directed by Lima
Barreto. Starring: Alberto Ruschel, Marisa Prado, Milton Ribeiro, Vanja Orico. In
Portuguese.
A gang of bandits raids a village and kidnaps the local school teacher. One of the
bandits, Teodoro, falls in love with the beautiful teacher. A review of the film by critic
Luciano Ramos precedes the film. Libraries Media Department: VHS 215.1. Not rated.
Carnaval 87. Sistema Globo, 1987. 110 mins. Directed by Zelito Viana. Narration:
Lanning Elwis. In English and Portuguese.
Shows the carnival in Rio de Janeiro in 1987, with participants dressed in
different costumes, floats, music and people dancing to Samba. The Samba groups show
the history, the art, and the customs of the people of Brazil. Libraries Media
Department: VHS 226.1. Not rated.
Os condenados. Globo Video, 1974. 80 mins. Directed by Zelito Viana. Starring: Isabel
Ribeiro, Cláudio Marzo, Enio Santos. In Portuguese.
The story of a São Paulo prostitute in the 1920's. Based on the novel by Oswald
de Andrade. Libraries Media Department:
. Not rated.
Cork from Portugal. Portuguese Trade Commission, 1996. 14 mins.
Documentary describing the cultivation and production of cork from the raw stage
to finished product. UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 2607.1. Not rated.
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands. Carnaval/New Yorker Films, 1977. 110 mins.
English version. Directed by Bruno Barreto. Starring: Sonia Braga, José Wilker, Mauro
Mendonça.
Based on the novel Dona Flor e seus dois maridos by Jorge Amado. When Dona
Flor's philandering husband expires, she remarries a boringly proper husband only to
have husband number one's ghost return. UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS
388.1. Rated R.
Memórias do cárcere = Memoirs of Prison. Regina Filmes, 1984. 2 hours, 1 min.
Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Starring: Carlos Vereza, Glória Pires, Jofre
Soares, José Dumont, Nildo Parente. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Graciliano Ramos, under suspicion of extreme left-wing views, was imprisoned
on a penal isle near Rio de Janeiro from 1936-1937 during a period of political
repression. Story is adapted from his vivid recollections of prison life. Also called:
Memories of Prison. UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 3012.1. Not rated.
The Mission. Warner Bros., 1986. 2 hours, 5 mins. Directed by Roland Joffé. Starring:
Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Ronald Pickup, Chuck Low, Aidan Quinn,
Cherie Lunghi.
A Spanish Jesuit goes into the Brazilian wilderness to build a mission in the hope
of converting the Indians of the region. A slave hunter is converted and joins the priest in
his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they
have built against the Portuguese aggressors. Libraries Media Department: LASER
53.1-2. Rated PG.
Mulheres negras = Black Women of Brazil. Conselho Estadual da Condição Femina,
1986. 25 mins. Directed and edited by Marcia Meireles, Sylvana Afram. Interviewer,
Jacira Melo. Portuguese with English voiceover narration.
Consists of personal testimonies on the conditions of black women in Brazil.
UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 2970.1. Not rated.
A Ópera do malandro. Sistema Globo, 1985. 108 mins. Directed by Ruy Guerra.
Starring: Edson Celulari, Cláudia Ohana, Elba Ramalho, Ney Latorraca. In Portuguese
and English with Portuguese subtitles.
Based on Opera do malandro by Chico Buarque. In Rio de Janeiro's bohemian
district called Lapa, during the 1940s, a stylish and popular scoundrel exploits a cabaret
singer, and earns his living by means of petty swindles. But then he meets Ludmila, the
cabaret owner's daughter, who wants to get rich smuggling goods in times of war.
Libraries Media Department: VHS 966.1. Not rated.
Pixote: a lei do mais fraco. Unifilm/Embrafilme, 1981. 2 hours, 2 mins. Directed by
Hector Babenco. Starring: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Marilla Pera, Jorge Juliao, Gilberto
Moura, Jose Nilson dos Santos. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
From the book Infancia dos mortos by José Louzeiro. "Ten-year-old Pixote
(Portuguese slang for 'Peewee') is one of three million homeless children in Brazil.
Hauled off to a crowded detention center, wide-eyed Pixote witnesses rapes, beatings and
other acts of random violence by both the guards and the inmates. With the transvestite
Lilica and his lover Dito, Pixote escapes from the reform school where he and his friends
hit the streets alone, embarking on a life of violence and crime."--Container. Libraries
Media Department: VHS 1030.1. Rated R.
Quincas Borba. Secretaria de Estado da Cultura de São Paulo, 1987. 116 mins. Directed
by Roberto Santos. Starring: Helber Rangel, Fúlvio Stefanini, and Brigitte Broder. In
Portuguese.
Based on the book by Machado de Assis (1839-1908) and adapted to the present
time. After the death of the philosopher Quincas Borba, his friend and disciple Rubiao
inherits all he possessed: his fortune, his dog, his philosophy and the germ of his
madness. Rubiao's passion for Sofia, a friend's wife, places him at the center of a game in
which she is the main piece while he is the only one who ignores the rules. The story of a
dreamer and delirious man facing a reality to which he is not prepared. UGA Libraries
Media Department: VHS 1084.1. Not rated.
O Rei do Rio. Embrafilme, 1985. 107 mins. Directed by Fábio Barreto. Starring: Nuno
Leal Maia, Nelson Xavier, Milton Gonçalves, Amparo Grizales. In Portuguese.
Two men, friends since their childhood, become rivals in a struggle for power and
territory in the Brazilian underworld. Based on the musical play O rei de ramos by Dias
Gomes. Libraries Media Department: VHS 1118.1. Not rated.
Terra em transe = A Land in Distress. Mapa Difilm, 1966. 117 mins., in black & white.
Directed by Glauber Rocha. Starring: Jardel Filho, Paulo Autran, José Lewgoy, Glauce
Rocha, Paulo Gracindo. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Libraries Media Department: VHS 2581.1.
Udju azul di Yonta = The Blue Eyes of Yonta. Vermedia, Arco-Iris, Eurocreation
Production, Rádiotelevisão Portuguesa, 1991. 90 mins. Starring: Maysa Marta, Pedro
Dias, António Simão Mendes, Mohamed Lamine Seidi, Bia Gomes. In Criolo
(Portuguese) with English subtitles.
Offers a portrait of the disillusionment of the revolutionary generation in GuineaBissau and the vibrant, if unintended, society which developed after independence in
1973. Tells the story of three people so in love with their dreams that they miss the real
opportunities which life offers. Libraries Media Department: VHS 3621.1. Not rated.