“Aftersun” is the big winner of the 2022 São Paulo Film Festival, receiving the Bandeira Paulista trophy (dedicated to a filmmaker’s first or second film) at the closing ceremony of the event at the Brazilian Cinematheque on Wednesday night.
Charlotte Wells’ first feature film, New Yorkbased Scotsman Aftersun tells the story of Sophie growing up remembering a very special vacation with her father 20 years ago.
Starring the girl Frankie Corio and the Irishman Paul Mescal, one of the most talented British actors of our time, the feature film blends images Sophie remembers with images filmed with a mini DV camera to piece together the character of a father , whom she knew with the father whom he did not know. Poetic, lyrical, moving, Aftersun has been touted as one of the best British debuts of the year.
It was not for nothing that the film won Critics’ Week at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was also highly praised by critics at the Toronto Film Festival this year 9:30 p.m. at CineSesc. By the way, starting this Thursday, 24 films will be shown at the Repescagem da Mostra. Check out the full list here.
The jury, composed of André Novais, Lina Chamie and Rodrigo Areias, also awarded three honorable mentions to actress Zelda Samsom from “Dalva”, actor Ali Junejo from the awardwinning Pakistani “Joyland” and animation “Salgueiros Cegos”. Mulher Sleeps.” Along with “Aftersun,” all received the Bandeira Paulista Trophy (created by artist Tomie Ohtake).
The audience award of the 46th Mostra was traditionally divided between foreigners and locals. Among the foreigners, “Nayola” by José Miguel Ribeiro was voted best feature film. Mark Cousins’ March on Rome won Best Documentary. Among the Brazilians, the best documentary was “Exu eo Universo” by Thiago Zanato. The best novel was “O Mestre da Fumaça” by André Sigwalt and Augusto Soares.
The Specialized Critics Award, covering Mostra SP, went to director and audiovisual producer Roberto Oliveira’s “Elis & Tom, Só Tinha de Ser com Você”. The filmmaker’s first feature film begins in Los Angeles in February 1974 when Elis Regina and Tom Jobim meet to record an album. The musical documentary reveals the scenes of the recording that would change her life and become an emblematic work of Brazilian music.
“This year, as Brazil reconciles with love and hope, the Mostra Critics’ Award for Best Brazilian Film of the Year 2022 goes to a documentary that celebrates the music of two great, immense artists. In 1974 they reunited in Los Angeles for a rare record that made history. Almost 50 years later, Roberto de Oliveira recreates the backstage of this musical masterpiece in a beautiful film. It just had to be them, Elis and Tom Só Tinha de Ser com Você,” they told the jury.
According to critics, the best international work was already the series “Noite Exterior” by Italian veteran Marco Bellocchio, which tells the story of the attack in Italy in the late 1970s in which Prime Minister Aldo I was kidnapped and murdered live.
Abraccine (Brazilian Association of Film Critics), which always brings together affiliated critics to award films at the most important film festivals in Brazil, chose Sandro Kakabadze’s À Margem do Ouro as Best Debut Film at SP 2022.
According to critics Beatriz Saldanha, Amilton Pinheiro and Sérgio Rizzo, the feature was “chosen” for its ability to use the language of direct documentary to help in understanding a controversial and multifaceted issue in its cultural, social, economic, environmental and political terms help aspects, illegal mining in the Amazon”.