Helena Solberg Cineclub presents PERNAMBUCO CINEMA ENCOUNTER

FREE ENTRY! RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helena-solberg-cineclub-presents-pernambuco-cinema-encounter-tickets-1007590980747

Pernambuco, in the northeast of Brazil, has been a strong film hub since the early stages of cinematic activity in our country. Production peaked in the 1920s, a period known as Ciclo do Recife (Cycle of Recife), when the state capital hosted over a dozen active production companies and created some landmark silent films. It then enjoyed an extraordinary experimental Super-8 boom in the 1970s, and drew all the attention in the late 1990s, occupying the main stage in the second phase of the Retomada (revival – the implementation of a system of financial and institutional public promotion for Brazilian cinema). From the 2010s onwards, Pernambuco has retaken the lead of Brazilian cinema, standing out on both the national and international stages, frequently shining at the main film festivals worldwide, with the greatest contemporary names coming from there: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Gabriel Mascaro, Lírio Ferreira and Renata Pinheiro, among many others.

The Pernambuco Cinema Encounter | Encontros do Cinema Pernambucano is a free and open-to-all film club that has been running in the city centre of Recife since January 2024. It has had over 50 screenings of 250 shorts, followed by debates with the filmmakers, giving space for the most cutting-edge recent production coming from this historical incubator of film creativity. In addition to Pernambucan directors, Encontros has also hosted artists from other places in Brazil and overseas who have connections with Recife.

This summer, Encontros will be touring several European cities (such as Bern, Brussels, Lyon, Paderborn and Paris), and it will stop by London at the HELENA SOLBERG CINECLUB for a special screening in September! Thor Neukranz, filmmaker and founder of Encontros, guest curated a selection of engrossing documentaries portraying Recife’s street life, urban transformations throughout the years, and its poetry.

The screening will be followed by a panel featuring the director, Malu Sá, in person, Thor Neukranz and pioneer female Brazilian filmmaker Kátia Mesel online, in addition to pre-recorded messages from the filmmakers whose films are being exhibited.

Films (total running time 67min.):
FILM LOCATIONS PERNAMBUCO (dir. Malu Sá, 2024)
SAMYDARSH (dir. Adelina Pontual, Cláudio Assis & Marcelo Gomes, 1993)
RECIFE FROM INSIDE OUT | RECIFE DE DENTRO PARA FORA (dir. Kátia Mesel, 1997)
THE RIVER WATERS | DAS ÁGUAS (dir. Adalberto Oliveira & Tiago Martins, 2023)
BONDS OF THE MATRIARCH | ELOS DA MATRIARCA (dir. Thor Neukranz, 2021)

There will be drinks to welcome the audience, and the screening will start at 6.30pm. All the films have English subtitles.