Amazon Film Festival Unveils 2012 Jurors, Line-Up

Award-winning films from around the globe will be screened 

at this unique festival in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest 

MANAUS, BRAZIL (October 31, 2012) – The ninth annual Amazonas Film Festival today announced its 2012 line-up, which features award-winning films from around the globe, and its jury of international stars and filmmakers. The festival will run November 3-9 in Manaus, Brazil. Screenings will be held at the Teatro Amazonas, the Belle-Epoque opera house upon which Werner Herzog based his epic film, Fitzcarraldo.

Opening night will feature the award-winning Brazilian film, Colegas (Buddies), by writer and director Marcelo Galvao. A road movie that illuminates the poetic side of life through the eyes of three young people with Down Syndrome, Colegas follows Stalone (Ariel Goldenberg), who wants to see the ocean, Annie (Rita Pokk), who hopes to get married, and Marcio (Breno Viola) who dreams of flying. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179259/

More than 30 films will compete in three sections at the festival, all vying for the Voo na Floresta (Flight Over the Jungle) trophy. These include: the International Feature Competition; the Brazilian Short Film Competition; the Competition for shorts produced in the state of Amazonas; and the screenwriting competition, for which there is a $40,000 prize. For the first time this year, the film awarded top honors at the festival will also receive a cash prize of nearly $10,000 ($20,000 real).

The International Feature Competition will showcase eight films from a diverse selection of countries, including: the critically acclaimed and controversial U.S. film Compliance; the winner of the World Cinema Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the Danish film Teddy Bear; and Jonathas’ Forest, set in the Amazon and directed by Manaus native Sergio Andrade. The full line-up of films is below.

The jury includes Romanian film director and producer, Tudor Giurgiu, (Vecini, Popcorn Story); Argentinian actress and winner of the 2010 Un Certain Regard – Best Actress award at Cannes for her performance in The Lips, Eva Bianco; Brazilian director and screenwriter Sergio Machado (Cidade Baixa), Brazilian actor Leonardo Medeiros (Lavoura Arcaica); and Programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival, Mimi Plauche.

Also attending the festival this year will be Craig Zobel, director of Compliance; star of The Other Son, French actor Jules Sitruk; and director of The Zebra, Fernando Leon from Mexico. Brazilian directors Marcelo Gomes (Once Upon A Time Was I, Veronica), Sergio Machado (Jonathas’ Forest), Pedro Bial and Heitor D’Alincourt (Jorge Mautner – The Son of the Holocaust) will also be on hand to present their films.

This year’s President of Honor is Brazilian filmmaker Zelito Vianna (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0895695/). There will be a special screening of his film Villa-Lobos: A Life of Passion at the festival.

This year there will also be a tribute to the 50 Anniversary of the Palme d’Or won by the Brazilian film O Pagador de Promessas (The Prayer of Promises), directed by Anselmo Duarte. In 1962 it was the first and to date the only Brazilian film to win the Palme d’Or and was also the first Brazilian and South American film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Amazonas Film Festival is a weeklong gathering for Brazilian cinema enthusiasts, film industry insiders, international celebrities, filmmakers, and journalists to celebrate art and film in an incredible setting - the Amazonian rainforest. The festival also has a number of initiatives to educate local audiences about film, including screenings at community centers, prisons, hospitals, bus stops, and remote villages along the Rio Negro River.

Further information about the festival is available at facebook.com/AmazonasFilmFestival

AMAZONAS FILM FESTIVAL 2012 

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION 

• JONATHAS’ FLOREST, by Sergio Andrade (Brazil) 

• COMPLIANCE, by Craig Zobel (USA) 

• ONCE UPON A TIME WAS I, VERONICA, by Marcelo Gomes (Brazil)

• THE ZEBRA, by Fernando Javier Leon Rodríguez (Mexico) 

• TEDDY BEAR, by Mads Matthiesen (Denmark) 

• THE ANGELS’ SHARE, by Ken Loach (UK) 

• THE OTHER SON, by Lorraine Lévy (Israel / France) 

• JORGE MAUTNER – THE SON OF THE HOLOCAUST, by Pedro Bial & Heitor D’Alincourt. (Brazil) 

BRAZILIAN SHORT FILM COMPETITION 

• A ARTE DE ANDAR PELAS RUAS DE BRASÍLIA, by Rafaela Camelo (Distrito Federal) 

• A DAMA DO ESTÁCIO, by Eduardo Ades (Rio de Janeiro)

• A CIDADE, by Liliana Sulzbach (Rio Grande do Sul) 

• A GALINHA QUE BURLOU O SISTEMA, by Quico Meirelles (São Paulo) 

• A MÃO QUE AFAGA, by Gabriela Amaral Almeida (São Paulo) 

• A POEIRA DOS PEQUENOS SEGREDOS, by Bertrand Lira (Paraíba) 

• DIA ESTRELADO, by Nara Normande (Pernambuco) 

• LINEAR, by Amir Admoni (São Paulo) 

• MONUMENTO, by Gregório Graziosi (São Paulo) 

• NA ROTA DA ILUSÃO, by Dheik Praia (Amazonas) 

• GIGANTE, by Julio Vanzeler & Luís da Mata Almeida (Santa Catarina) 

• QUINHA, by Caroline Oliveira (Pernambuco) 

• REALEJO, de Marcus Vinicius Vasconcelos (São Paulo) 

• VENTO DE FEIÇÃO, by Ana Moravi (Minas Gerais) 

SHORT FILM COMPETITION - FOR FILMS PRODUCED IN AMAZONAS 

• A SEGUNDA BALADA, de Rafael Ramos dos Santos (Manaus)

• A ÚLTIMA NO TAMBOR, by Ricardo Araújo R. D’Albuquerque (Manaus) 

• A ÚLTIMA TRAVESSIA, de Joice Caster (Manaus) 

• ASFALTO, by Moacyr Massulo (Manaus) 

• CHÃO MOLHADO, by Everton Macedo e Silva (Parintins) 

• CINEMA EM TRÂNSITO, by João Aureo (Parintins) 

• ET SET ERA, by Emerson Medina & Rod Castro (Manaus) 

• FILHOS DO HAITI, de Ari Santos (Manaus) 

• FIO DA PONTA, by Erismar Fernandes Rodrigues (Manaus) 

• NO RÁDIO DO SEU CORAÇÃO, by Elisa Bessa e Ladilce Pontes (Manaus) 

• RETRATOS DE MANAUS, de Sergio Cobelo (Manaus) 

• O TEMPO QUE VOLTA, by Abelly Cristyne (Manaus) 

• PARIS DOS TRÓPICOS, by Keurem Maia Marçal (Manaus) 

• POSTUMO, by Diego Nogueira (Manaus) 

• TERRA DOS MENINOS PELADOS, de Izis Negreiros (Manaus) 

UMA DOCE DAMA, by Leonardo José Mancini (Manaus)