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 »
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 »
Maurílio Martins discusses “O Último Episódio”, a film set in 1991 on the outskirts of Contagem born from personal memories of Laguna neighborhood. The director talks about narrative layers, adult conflicts and the attempt to capture the impossible moment of childhood farewell.
INTERVIEW: MAURÍLIO MARTINS (O ÚLTIMO EPISÓDIO, 2024) Read More »
Tropical Alien spoke with André Antônio about “Salomé”, winner of eight awards at the 2024 Brasília Film Festival. In the interview, the director explores his investigation of desire through an aesthetic that blends realistic relationships with extreme visual artificiality, using neon colors and references to American film noir.
INTERVIEW: ANDRÉ ANTÔNIO (SALOMÉ, 2024) Read More »
In Tropical Alien’s third interview, directors Clarissa Campolina and Sérgio Borges reveal how “Suçuarana” was born from reading Henry James in 2012, going through 12 years of development to become a road movie about Dora’s search for lost land.
INTERVIEW: CLARISSA CAMPOLINA AND SÉRGIO BORGES (SUÇUARANA, 2024) Read More »
In the first Tropical Takes video, Bruno Weber analyzes Gabriel Mascaro’s “The Blue Trail”. Brazilian dystopia where government sends elderly to distant colonies. Starring Denise Weinberg, film won Silver Bear in Berlin
Tropical Takes: The Blue Trail | Gabriel Mascaro (2024) Read More »
Mariana Brennand approaches child abuse in Amazonian communities with notable cinematic sensitivity, choosing an ethical visual language that communicates without exploiting. With Jamilli Correa’s revelatory performance and Rômulo Braga’s complex work, the film discusses an urgent reality of Brazilian society through fiction.
