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In search of lost movie theaters: an introspective look at a changing Brazil.
Kleber Mendonça Filho came to fame as a result of his feature films NEIGHBORING SOUNDS, AQUARIUS, and BACURAU, all of which were screened at FILMFEST MÜNCHEN (2012-2019). In a poetic mixture of personal essay and documentary, the director now turns to his northern Brazilian hometown of Recife: the disappearance of the palatial cinemas, the once fashionable center of town falling into ruin, his witnessing of the dizzying transformation of the neighborhood by the sea which doubled as the setting for his own films. This journey into the history of a city and of cinema itself is at times funny and at times sad, but it is also haunted by the apparitions of the title which repeatedly open a portal to the fantastic.
Meet the director
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Kleber Mendonça Filho was born in Recife, Brazil, in 1968. He studied journalism at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco prior to becoming a journalist and film critic. After making several short films and the documentary CRITICO (2008), he had his feature-film debut with NEIGHBORING SOUNDS (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2012), about a middle-class neighborhood in Recife. His second feature film, AQUARIUS (FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2016), about an elderly lady being forced out of her apartment, was entered in competition at Cannes. His science fiction drama BACURAU also competed for the Palme d'Or in 2019 and received the CineMasters ARRI Award at FILMFEST MÜNCHEN.