Cinema Brasil Caravan

"Can you smell it? It's the drain!" Lourenço takes pleasure in exploiting customers in financial difficulties, but his life takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself falling for a woman’s perfect behind.

The Mystery of Samba portrays the everyday life and stories of Portela samba school. The film includes research done by the singer Marisa Monte, in her attempt to recover unrecorded compositions from the 1940s and 1950s. The poetry, unique rhythm and intimacy of these composers are unmasked via the simple life of this small northern district in Rio, Oswaldo Cruz.

The youngest of 10 brothers, Roberto showed a special talent to tell stories, by changing through narrative his own experiences about frustration into beautiful and touching fables. At age 6, the boy filled with imagination goes to live in a newly opened government institution, which main goal is to help young and poor children. His mother takes him there believing it will guarantee a better future for her child. But the reality of the institution is very different from what was advertised on TV. Roberto, little by little, loses hope. At age 13, after hundreds of escapes, he's considered "irrecoverable", in the words of the headmaster of the facility. However, Roberto proves to be a challenge to the French pedagogue who comes to Brazil to work on a research. This encounter changes his life completely.

A young girl finds excitement and adventure in the jungles of Brazil in this family-oriented drama. Taina (Eunice Baia) is a young girl who, after the death of her mother and father, is living with her grandfather in a jungle near the Amazon River. When her grandfather unexpectedly passes on, Taina isn't sure where to turn, and wanders into the forest, where she's taken in by Isabel (Branca Camargo), a scientist who is doing research on drugs that could cure jungle fever. Taina and Isabel soon bond with one another, but Isabel's self-centered son, Joninho (Caio Romei), doesn't care for the new addition to the family. Taina's pet monkey, Catu, quickly attracts the attention of an animal poacher, while Meg (Betty Erthal), another scientist doing research in the jungle, will do anything to prevent Isabel from discovering the jungle fever vaccine first. Taina and Catu are lured deep into the forest by mean-spirited Joninho, but his prank soon backfires when he finds himself lost in the wilds with Taina. As Isabel and her pilot friend, Rudy (Jairo Mattos), search for the missing children, the poachers hope to find them first in order to get their hands on Catu, while Meg wants the kids as ransom bait in order to get her hands on Isabel's research findings. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi