In this interview, Zezé Motta shares her experience playing Francisca da Silva de Oliveira in “Xica da Silva” (1976), revealing how she built one of Brazilian cinema’s most iconic characters through physicality, moral contradictions, and the balance between satire and human truth.
XICA DA SILVA (1976): INTERVIEW WITH ZEZÉ MOTTA Read More »
Aly Muritiba skillfully adapts Daniel Galera’s novel in “Drenched in Blood.” A dense atmosphere built around theatrical long takes serves as the backdrop for a disturbing examination of masculinity, with Gabriel Leone and Thainá Duarte
DRENCHED IN BLOOD | 2026 Read More »
Released in 1965, Luiz Sérgio Person’s film remains one of the most precise portraits ever made of São Paulo — and of the kind of ambition the city produces.
SÃO PAULO, INCORPORATED | 1965 Read More »
Evgenia Alexandrova, cinematographer of “The Secret Agent” (2025), discusses the decision to film Brazil’s dictatorship in broad daylight, working with Wagner Moura on set, and what it means to operate the camera to be fully present.
INTERVIEW: EVGENIA ALEXANDROVA (THE SECRET AGENT, 2025) Read More »
Suzana Amaral transposes Clarice Lispector’s novel in one of the most accomplished adaptations in Brazilian cinema, with a revelatory Marcélia Cartaxo as Macabéa. The film knows how to find beauty and tragedy in the invisibility of an unforgettable character.
THE HOUR OF THE STAR | 1985 Read More »
João Londres discusses “Klaustrophobia” (2025), a psychological horror that premiered at the Rio Film Festival. The director recounts how the project was born during the pandemic and transformed in editing, details the opening sequence shot, and shares Brazilian film recommendations.
INTERVIEW: JOÃO LONDRES (KLAUSTROPHOBIA, 2025) Read More »
Leonardo Feliciano shares the behind-the-scenes of “Araby’s” cinematography, revealing how he built the film’s visual language over three years of discontinuous shooting. Cinematographer of “White Out, Black In” and “Mars One”, he balanced naturalism and detachment to tell Cristiano’s story.
ARABY (2017): INTERVIEW WITH CINEMATOGRAPHER LEONARDO FELICIANO Read More »
Daniel Rezende sensitively adapts Valter Hugo Mãe’s novel, creating “humble epic” about coastal village. Rodrigo Santoro brings compassion to Crisóstomo, solitary fisherman who maintains humanity amid cycles of violence.
THE SON OF A THOUSAND MEN | 2025 Read More »
Tropical Alien talked with director Marco Dutra about “Bury Your Dead” (2024), an adaptation of the first book in Ana Paula Maia’s trilogy. The film follows Edgar (Selton Mello), responsible for removing roadkill carcasses in Abalurdes, a fictional small town. In the interview, Dutra discusses writing about death during the pandemic and how Ana Paula Maia’s literary universe provided the foundation for creating a Brazilian language of cosmic horror. The director details Selton Mello’s physical performance as Edgar and his collaboration with Ana Paula Cardoso on production design and Rui Poças on cinematography.
INTERVIEW: MARCO DUTRA (BURY YOUR DEAD, 2024) Read More »
Kleber Mendonça Filho creates singular approach to Brazilian dictatorship with very strong visual language. Wagner Moura delivers perhaps his best work in film exploring how physical media preserves stories.
THE SECRET AGENT | 2025 Read More »
