Waxing cinematic: The Brazilian Film Festival

We love their parties and bikini lines, now fall in love with their celluloid.

A scene from O Magnata.

By Kevin Craft

You don't have to travel all the way to Cannes this May to find a good film festival. From May 30-June 7, South Floridians can venture to Miami Beach for the 12th annual Brazilian Film Festival of Miami. The festival will screen 38 films in nine days, so get ready to immerse yourself in the latest works from this burgeoning national cinema.

The festival kicks things off on Friday, May 30 with a free outdoor screening of Urban Snap Shots at North Beach Bandshell. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will be accompanied by a live DJ.

Feature films and short films competing for the 18 Crystal Lens awards given in categories ranging from Best Film to Best Art Direction will screen at the Colony Theater from May 31 through June 6. Two screenings ($10 each) will take place at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

The Wolfsonian Museum is hosting the festival's tribute screenings, which will pay homage to five prestigious Brazilian filmmakers such as Andrucha Waddington, director of the 2005 drama House of Sand and Fog, and Fabio Barreto, director of the Oscar Nominated O Quatrilho. From June 2-6, one tribute screening will take place at 8 p.m. each night. Tickets are $10.

The Miami Beach Cinematheque will be showing off its new HD Digital projection system by hosting the festival's six digital screenings from May 31-June 5. One screening will take place each night at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for MBC members.

The festival is also holding a series of workshops June 2 and 3 aimed at promoting the festival as a platform for commercialization, distribution and exhibition of Brazilian films in the United States and Latin America. These workshops will take place at the Surfcomber Hotel on Collins Avenue and will be attended by representatives of various Latin American Markets.

The festival will close its doors in style on June 7 with a closing night concert at the Lincoln Theater, featuring musical performances by Toni Garrido and the Flecha Black band.

So whether you loved City of God or simply feel the need to expand your knowledge of international cinema, visit the festival's website, check the schedule, pick your movie and head off to what promises to be an interesting week of cinema.