Swiss documentary film as musical highlight at film festival in Rio de Janeiro

Film director Georges Gachot will attend the gala screening of his documentary film “Rio Sonata” at the 12th Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival (September 23-October 7, 2010).

21.09.2010

Film director Georges Gachot will attend the gala screening of his documentary film “Rio Sonata” at the 12th Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival (September 23-October 7, 2010). Also attending this premiere at the legendary Odeon cinema, which was built 80 years ago, will be singer Nana Caymmi and several of the most influential figures in modern Brazilian music, all of whom are portrayed in the film: Maria Bethânia, Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento and Gilberto Gil, the Brazil’s former Minister of Culture. Together with “Rio Sonata”, the film festival in Rio de Janeiro will screen two feature films and four documentary films from Switzerland, including Jean-Stéphane Bron’s “Cleveland vs. Wall Street”.

Nana Caymmi is regarded as the "the singer of all singers" not only by her fans and Brazilians, but also by Brazil's most renowned musicians. She ranks among the leading figures in the past fifty years of Brazilian music. The 48-year-old Zurich-based film director from France Georges Gachot has shot documentary films on classical music since 1990, for example, portraying the Argentinean pianist in the film "Martha Argerich, conversation nocture" (2002) and "Maria Bethânia, musica è perfume" (2005), his first portrait of a Brazilian singer. The film "Rio Sonata" will be given yet another prominent appearance at the end of October at the Mostra festival in Sao Paulo, the largest Brazilian metropolis, before being released to cinemas in Brazil shortly before Christmas (distributor: Imovision). The film is currently showing in Swiss cinemas (distributor: Xenix Filmdistribution).

The Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, which has no competition, has included Swiss documentary films in its programme this year. Apart from "Rio Sonata" and "Cleveland vs. Wall Street", they are: "Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)" by Nicolas Wadimoff; "Dirty Paradise" by Daniel Schweizer; and the Swiss coproduction "Bassidji" by Iranian director Mehran Tamadon. The two feature films - "Film Socialisme" by Jean-Luc Godard and "Cosa voglio di piu" by Silvio Soldini - round off the exceptionally strong Swiss presence in Rio.

Zurich, September 21, 2010

 

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