Skip to main content

Festival coverage

Cinema Of Brazil

2009

Only When I Dance will close the season
Only When I Dance will close the season

This year's edition - now in its third year is subtitled Urban Tales due to the city-centric theme that permeates this award-winning selection of 10 contemporary features and four documentaries.

The festival opens on September 8, at London's Barbican, with a screening of If Nothing Else Works Out (Se Nada Mais Der Certo), followed by a Q&A with director José Eduardo Belmonte and Milhem Cortaz, and closes on October 8 with Only When I Dance.

View complete schedule

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Jardim Ângela
    Review preview for Jardim Ângela

    If the film is at times less than enthralling, the overall questions it raises are crucial and rarely tackled.

    Chris · 4 out of 5
    Documentary tracking São Paulo youngsters as they film a documentary about their community.
  • Master - A Copacobana Building
    Review preview for Master - A Copacobana Building

    If finding the exceptional in the ordinary is the mark of a good documentary maker, Eduardo Coutinho is positively tattooed.

    Chris · 4 out of 5
    A week in the life of the residents of a Copacabana apartment block.
  • Last Stop 174
    Review preview for Last Stop 174

    From the opening scenes (which have genuine shock value), the drive towards a finale is uneven at best.

    Chris · 3 out of 5
    Story of a homeless man who hijacked a bus in Rio.
  • Not By Chance
    Review preview for Not By Chance

    A deeply meditative, if surprisingly fast-moving film that allows the thoughtful viewer to contemplate the existential choices which life brings and how we handle them.

    Chris · 4 out of 5
    Fate leads to lives interlocking in São Paulo.
  • If Nothing Else Works Out
    Review preview for If Nothing Else Works Out

    The more I think back on it, the more I love this film.

    Chris · 3.5 out of 5
    The lives of a group of friends living life on the edge in frenetic São Paulo.
  • Only When I Dance
    Review preview for Only When I Dance

    As well-constructed documentary, this contains emotion but avoids cheesiness.

    Chris · 3.5 out of 5
    Young Brazilians train hard in the hope of becoming ballet stars.
  • Lower City
    Review preview for Lower City

    It is the sensitivity of Machado's film that sets it apart.

    Richard Mellor · 4 out of 5
    Two friends find their loyalties tested when they both fall in love with the same prostitute.