Cadência

Director: Daren Bartlett

Year: 2008

O Zelador, a feature-length documentary, explores the life of Mestre Russo. A remarkable individual who lives with his family in Baixada Fluminense, a former plantation about a one hour bus ride from the centre of Rio de Janeiro. It is a desperately poor area of dirt tracks, roaming animals, open sewers and ramshackle houses. At an early age Mestre Russo discovered the value of Capoeira. The music, self-defence and philosophy of this Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestation helped him endure a life fraught with danger and hardship. The film follows Mestre Russo, his wife and sons and his loyal group of students who claim that Russo's love, knowledge and guidance have been an inspiration to them. He is a father-figure to each of them. They, in turn, have provided him with the extended family which he sought. Russo holds a meeting every Sunday, a 'Roda' (literally circle) in Caxias, where people come and perform Capoeira in the street. This Roda endured the oppressive regime during the dictatorship and has survived for 35 years up until today. The film includes interviews with Russo, his family, students, other Masters as well as journalists, academics and a Candomble priest. These interviews, together with archive footage and photographs chart the turbulent history of Capoeira and sets it in its cultural, social and political context told through the life of this remarkable man.

Director: Ornella Mutoni

Year: 2024

A group of young adults born during or just after the 1994 genocide against Rwanda's Tutsi people gather to find the courage to break a powerful taboo. Rwanda is one of the few nations in the world providing specialist counselling for children conceived through rape, who number 10,000 across the country. Here, course leader Emilienne, a mother, therapist and genocide survivor, helps the group to imagine a future free from family secrets and societal stigma. In a circle of supportive peers, they tell their individual stories and face their struggles together, in the hope their participation will advocate for others facing similar trauma. Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024 NY African Film Festival 2025

Director: Aaron Brookner, Rodrigo Areias

Year: 2025

NOVA '78 resurrects the legendary Nova Convention, the groundbreaking three-day gathering held in New York in 1978 to celebrate William S. Burroughs and the artistic revolution he inspired. Built from newly restored, previously unseen 16mm footage shot by Howard Brookner, the film captures extraordinary performances and intimate backstage moments featuring Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and many other defining voices of the era. More than a concert film or historical record, NOVA '78 is an immersive time capsule of a fleeting moment when literature, music, art and radical ideas collided to reshape contemporary culture.