Complete program of the 46th Festival Sesc Melhores Filmes – online edition

The longest-running film festival promoted by Sesc will have a special edition this year, just online, due to the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus. Traditionally held in April, the Festival Sesc Best Films starts on the 19th, Wednesday, with the awards ceremony for the most voted films of the last year. In live broadcast, starting at 19:30, on CineSesc YouTube channel, the event that aims to honor national and world cinema, audiovisual professionals and the public will have a presentation by the actress Karine Teles. live It will be open to the public and free of charge, with no need to register.

Directly from her home, Karine Teles - who received the awards for Best National Actress and Best Screenplay in 2019, for the film "Benzinho", by Gustavo Pizzi - will announce this year's winners and even chat with some of the awardees. Also participating in the ceremony are journalists and film critics Flavia Guerra, Thiago Stivaletti and the filmmaker Viviane Ferreira, who heat up the awards by commenting on the most voted films of 2019.

The winners will be known only in the broadcast and, after the live: Festival website, publishes the complete list of winners and makes available a digital version of the catalog with information on the films most voted by the public and critics.

After the ceremony, and opening the 46th edition of Sesc Melhores Filmes, the public will be able to watch, free of charge, the first and exclusive screening of the film "Meu Nome é Bagdá", by Caru Alves de Souza, awarded by the jury in the Generation exhibition, dedicated to to works depicting youth, from the Berlin Film Festival.

Created in 1974, the Festival Sesc Melhores Filmes is the first film festival in São Paulo. It offers the public the opportunity to see or review what has been most significant on the city's screens. Its programming is democratically chosen by the public and critics. The films that participated in this year's vote were those commercially released in movie theaters in São Paulo in 2019.

For this special online edition, the festival team prepared a clipping with some of the films most voted by the public and the critics that would be in the schedule of the in-person edition of Melhores. The public will be able to see and review films such as the Polish Cold War, by Paweł Pawlikowski, the Danish Queen of Hearts, by May el-Toukhy, and the Swedish Border, by Ali Abbasi, in addition to the national Bacurau, by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, Greta, by Armando Praça, Torre das Maidens, by Susanna Lira, and Divino Amor, by Gabriel Mascaro. They will be grouped in special sessions, with unique exhibitions, available on demand for 24 hours, from a week to a month, on the Sesc Digital platform. To watch, just go to virtual address of Sesc (Cinema at Home).

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Festival Schedule

[Single Sessions]

Wednesday, 19/8 at 21pm:
"My name is Baghdad"
(Dir. Caru Alves de Souza, Brazil, 2020, 99min, Fiction)

Synopsis: Baghdad (Grace Orsato) is a 16-year-old skater who spends her days with her friends, doing tricks on the local rink, smoking weed and playing cards. Gradually, she approaches Vanessa (Nick Batista), encouraged to join the group. Together, they meet other skater girls and form friendships.

23/8, Sunday, at 20:XNUMX:
"Bacurau"
(Dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles, Brazil, France, 2019, 131 min, Fiction, 16 years old)

Synopsis: In a recent future, Bacurau, a village in the Pernambuco hinterland, mysteriously disappears from the map. When a series of unexplained murders begins to happen, the townspeople try to react. But how to defend against an unknown and implacable enemy? Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Winner of Best Film in the International Cinemasters Competition at the Munich Film Festival.

[Available for 24 hours]

20/8, Thursday:
"Greta"
(Dir. Armando Praça, Brazil, 2019, 97 min, Fiction, 18 years old)

Synopsis: Pedro (Marco Nanini), a 70-year-old homosexual nurse and ardent Greta Garbo fan, needs to free up a spot at the hospital where he works for Daniela (Denise Weinberg), his best friend. To save Daniela, he decides to help Jean, a young man who has just been hospitalized and handcuffed for committing a crime. Pedro helps him escape and hides him in his own house until he recovers. During this period, they are emotionally and sexually involved. This relationship will be essential for Pedro to survive the loss of Daniela, but also for it to generate surprising changes in himself and in the way he deals with loneliness.

21/8, Friday:
"Elegy of a crime"
(Dir. Cristiano Burlan, Brazil, 2019, 92 min, Documentary, 14 years old)

Synopsis: Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, February 24, 2011. Isabel Burlan da Silva, the director's mother, is murdered by her partner. Elegy of a crime ends the "Grief Trilogy", which deals with the tragic history of the family. Faced with impunity, the film embarks on a dizzying journey to reconstruct Isabel's image and life. Winner of the ABD-SP and EDT awards for Best Documentary at the 23rd International Documentary Festival: It's All True.

22/8, Saturday:
"divine love"
(Dir. Gabriel Mascaro, Brazil, 2019, 101 min, Fiction, 18 years old)

Synopsis: Brazil, 2027. A devout religious uses her office in a registry office to try to make divorces difficult. While waiting for a divine sign in recognition of her efforts, she is faced with a crisis in her marriage that ends up bringing her even closer to God. Awarded Best Film and Best Actress at the Luso-Brazilian Film Festival Santa Maria da Feira and the FEISAL award in Guadalajara. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and soon after participated in the Panorama Show at the 69th Berlin Film Festival.

23/8, Sunday:
"Los Silencios"
(Dir. Beatriz Seigner, Brazil, Colombia, France, 2017, 89 min, Fiction, 14 years old)

Synopsis: Amparo (Marleyda Soto) and her children Nuria and Fábio arrive on a small island in the middle of the Amazon, on the border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, fleeing the Colombian armed conflict, where the couple's father (Enrique Diaz) and daughter disappeared. One day, he reappears in the new house on stilts. The family is haunted by this strange secret and discovers that the island is populated by ghosts.

[Available for 7 days]

From 20 to 26/8, Thursday to Wednesday:
"Hellraiser"
(Dir. Guto Parente, Pedro Diógenes, Brazil, 2018, 82min, Fiction, 12 years old)

Synopsis: Deusimar is the owner of Inferninho, a bar that is a refuge for dreams and fantasies. She wants to leave everything behind and go to a faraway place. Jarbas, the sailor who has just arrived, dreams of anchoring and putting down roots. The love that is born between the two will completely transform the daily life of the bar.

"Maidens Tower"
(Dr. Susanna Lira, Brazil, 2018, 97 min, Fiction, 14 years old)

Synopsis: There are desires that neither prison nor torture inhibit: freedom and justice. There are reasons that keep us intact even in extreme situations of pain and humiliation: friendship and solidarity. Torre das Maidens tells the story of a group of women political prisoners who occupied a cell in Tiradentes prison, such as lawyer Rita Sipahi, Minister Eleonora Menicucci and President Dilma Rousseff, among many others.

"Rain is singing in the village of the dead"
(Dir. João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora, Brazil, Portugal, 2018, 114 min, Fiction, Free)

Synopsis: Ihjãc is a young man of the Krahô ethnicity, who lives in the village of Pedra Branca, in Tocantins. After his father's death, he refuses to become a shaman and flees to the city. Far from his people and from his own culture, Ihjãc faces the difficulties of being an indigenous person in contemporary Brazil. Special Jury Prize at the Un Certain Regard Show, at the Cannes Film Festival.

"In the Heart of the World"
(Dir. Gabriel Martins, Maurílio Martins, Brazil, 2019, 120 min, Fiction, 16 years old)

Synopsis: On the outskirts of Contagem, Marcos seeks a way out of his routine of odd jobs and petty crimes. A risky opportunity arises, but it can solve all his problems. To do so, he must convince his girlfriend, Ana, to team up with Selma and execute the plan that could change their lives forever.

[Available for 30 days - from 20/08 to 20/09]

"Cold War"
(Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland, United Kingdom, France, 2018, 78 min, Fiction, 14 years)

Synopsis: During the Cold War between Stalinist Poland and bohemian Paris in the 50s, a freedom-loving musician and a young singer with completely different backgrounds and temperaments live an impossible love.

"Queen of Hearts"
(Dir. May el-Toukhy, Denmark, Sweden, 2019, 128 min, Fiction, 18 years old)

Synopsis: Anne is an advocate for the rights of children and adolescents. Used to dealing with complicated young people, she doesn't have many difficulties to strengthen ties with her stepson Gustav, son of her husband Peter's first marriage, who has just moved in with her. However, the relationship that should be maternal becomes romantic, involving Anna in a complex situation, risking the stability of both her personal and professional life.

"Border"
(Dir. Ali Abbasi, Sweden, 2018, 108 min, Fiction, 16 years old)

Synopsis: Tina (Eva Melander) is a police officer who works at the airport checking luggage and passengers. After being struck by lightning as a child, she developed a kind of sixth sense, making her able to "read people" just by looking. This has always been an advantage in her profession, but everything changes when she identifies a potential criminal and can't find evidence to justify her intuition. After the episode, she starts to question her gift, at the same time she becomes obsessed with discovering the true secret of Vore (Eero Milonoff), her only unlegitimate suspect.

"Cinema São Paulo"
(Dir. Ricardo Martensen, Felipe Tomazelli, Brazil, 2017, 77 min, Documentary, Free)

Synopsis: Seu Chico grew up playing in his father's cinema, a majestic building built in 1910 in the city of Dois Córregos. A life that has always revolved around the big screen, his passion. Interdicted by the justice for security problems, the place is undergoing a complex renovation to get back to work.

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Cinema Series #EmCasaComSesc

Since the beginning of June, CineSesc has been carrying out the series Cinema #EmCasaComSesc, on its platform online, with weekly premieres. With greater presence in the environment online, Sesc expands its action of cultural diffusion, in an accessible and permanent way. The public thus gains another space to contemplate, discover and rediscover cinema, based on selected great works, made available online and free of charge.

Films are available for a limited period, with changes and new releases every Thursday (considering the cinema week from Thursday to Wednesday). There is also the possibility of extending the exhibition, according to public demand, in addition to special sessions for shorter periods (such as 24 hours, for example). The curatorship of Cinema #EmCasaComSesc has the experience of CineSesc, which has been closed since March, due to the crisis caused by the new coronavirus.

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Publication: William Schutz
Contact by email: redacao.willianschutz@gmail.com
Text adapted from the Sesc press office.

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