Luiz Melodia - Within the Heart of Brazil
★ 8.5 · 2025 · 75m · Documentary
A sound and visual journey that portrays the life and work of singer and composer Luiz Melodia. The Poet of Estácio himself tells us, in the first person, his trajectory as a black boy born on the hill until his transformation into one of the greatest artists in the history of MPB. The film also features an unpublished collection made available by Jane Reis, his wife and businesswoman.
More Like This
Long John Baldry: In the Shadow of the Blues
2007
This music documentary celebrates the long and influential career of Long John Baldry, a pioneering British musician whose blues revivalism inspired The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and a young Eric Clapton. Featuring footage of early performances and commentaries from a number of musicians for whom he was a great influence.
More info →
Documenting Selfie Intern #1
2019
A short documentary film made up of archival footage shot in 2003, which was reworked and edited in 2018-2019. The film shows a haphazardly shot, fragmented property viewing and inventarisation through the eyes of a child, featuring a voice over by that same child. Because of having unrestricted access to their family’s camcorder as a child, there were a few instances where the artist's child form had shot ‘full length’ documentary films - with this documentary short being one of those instances. Often these documentations were a call for seeking comfort in a new surrounding, stemming from a deep fear of being forgotten or unheard, and a playful way of documenting one’s thoughts and feelings. In many ways the artist, Mees Joachim, was the original vlogger, before the advent of Youtube.
More info →
Square One
2019 · ★ 8.6
An investigation into the original 1993 Michael Jackson allegations brought by the Chandler family.
More info →
Lumière, Le Cinéma!
2024 · ★ 7.1
In one of those wonderful coincidences of history, lumière, the French word for “light,” was also the last name of brothers Auguste and Louis, whose brilliant invention, the cinematograph, helped to inaugurate the most beloved art form of the last 130 years. Institute Lumière director Thierry Frémaux uses Lumière, Le Cinema! to guide the viewer through over a hundred shorts—some famous, some forgotten, some never before seen—directed by Lumière and company. In the process, Frémaux illuminates how the brothers employed the camera as a creative instrument as they (and their operators) mastered framing, staging, and subject selection for quotidian and exotic microdocumentaries as well as the first ever fictional motion pictures. The result is not only a glorious re(telling) of the genesis of cinema but a profound meditation on the beautiful world captured—and the mysterious world imagined—by the Lumières.
More info →
Cherry Blossoms, Again
2017
This documentary is about musician Jang Beom-joon from the band Busker Busker, Superstar K second runner up and hit maker of its 1st and 2nd albums.
More info →
Nicolas Maury, ceux qui l'aiment prendront le train
2024
Between the nostalgia of resurfacing roots and the desire to venture into song to experience a rebirth, Nicolas Maury reveals himself unguarded before Didier Varrod, with a deeply moving sincerity. Nicolas Maury released his first album, La porcelaine de Limoges, in January 2023—a new experience for this unique, demanding, and multifaceted actor. It is an opportunity to paint an intimate portrait of him through an extended interview on a train between Paris and Limoges. In this specific setting, which was also that of his first (silent) film role with Patrice Chéreau in Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train, Nicolas discovers archives and hears from close acquaintances who speak about him. A documentary film, like a kind of initiation rite, it moves back and forth between memories of France and childhood, and his condition as a man and artist today, taking on a new identity through music.
More info →
Stallone: Frank, That Is
2021 · ★ 5.8
An inside look into the fascinating life, career and survival of the most unknown famous entertainer in Hollywood.
More info →
A Farra do Circo
2013 · ★ 9
This documentary highlights the evolution of Brazil's Circo Voador venue from homespun artists' performance space to national cultural institution.
More info →
Playtime
2026
Brazil from the perspective of school pupils aged 14 to 19. Combining a documentary with a fictional approach, Hora do recreio addresses topics including violence, racism and drug dealing.
More info →
Maria Bethânia: Música é Perfume
2005 · ★ 7.7
Brazilian singer Maria Bethania has a 40-year singing career. A documentary shows her concerts and famous family.
More info →