Festival Cinema Brasil

Introduction
Recently, the Japanese people have shown ever-growing concern about Brazilian culture. In the minds of many, the words “Brazil” and “culture” conjure up images of footballers and dancers in vivid carnival costumes. Brazil is worldwide known as the country of soccer, samba and carnival. But the Brazilian culture is much more than just that. It is a culture set of beliefs, habits and attitudes shared by its people. To introduce some of Brazilian cultural aspects, Tupiniquim Entertainment has chosen cinema, the 7th Art, as tool to introduce the country’s history and context to the Japanese archipelago audience; whereas cinema embodies all arts, such as music, painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, etc., using advanced techniques of picture and sound to communicate and express the nation’s philosophical and cultural aspects.

Festival Purpose
Filmmaking and cinema haven’t always figured amongst Brazil’s cultural staples, but after the restoration of Democracy and elimination of censorship in 1985, the Brazilian filmmakers struggled to make an impact on audiences abroad. Shortly after, in the early 1990s, there was a virtual collapse of Embrafilme (the state agency that funds most Brazilian films) and Brazilian film industry only began to recover around 1995. Today, less than two decades after the collapse of its industry, the Brazilian cinema is enjoying a renaissance, wowing audiences and critics alike, producing over 60 films per year.

The international success of films such as Central Station (1998), City of God (2002) and Two Sons of Francisco (2005) has stimulated widespread interest in Brazilian films, also in Japan. Despite getting recognition, Brazilian cinema is still not well known in Japan and only few movies have been released here. With the aim to promote Brazilian film productions and also supply the emergent market demand in Asia, Tupiniquim Entertainment brought to Japan, the first and the biggest Brazilian cinema exhibition, Festival Cinema Brasil held in 2005 at L'Institute Franco-Japonais de Tokyo. The purpose of the festival is to promote the Brazilian culture in Japan and Asia, showcasing the best Brazilian film productions; foster the integration between Brazilian market and the Japanese and Asian market; and create a chance for the Japanese island residents to enjoy a sampling of cultural diversity and Brazilian exoticism remarkably present in the daily life of Brazilian people, hoping that it may help to improve the relationship between the two countries. Festival Cinema Brasil 2008 was one of the official events of the “Brazil-Japan Year of Exchange” – to celebrate the Centenary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil.

Festival History
Festival Cinema Brasil is the Asia’s largest scale event promoting Brazilian film productions and music clips that have established its roots in Japan. Following the successful result of the first edition of Festival Cinema Brasil 2005; from 2006, the festival venue was changed to a largest theater located at Tokyo International Forum, since the event has been attracting steadily increasing audience every year. Festival Cinema Brasil always shows a wide genre of films including Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Music Clips, Animation, Fantasy, etc. All movies are in Portuguese language with subtitles in English and Japanese. Besides, all Press Releases are available in trilingual version: Portuguese, English and Japanese, because the festival aim is to attend not only the Japanese society, but also other foreign communities living in Japan.

Click the posters below to view past editions of the festival:




Sponsoring the Festival
If your company is interested in the Festival Cinema Brasil and would like to participate as a sponsor, please contact us.