SouthbankBrazil on Film
Delve into the riches of Brazilian cinema, with a season that features a variety of genres and includes hidden gems as well as well-established classics.
‘Brazil is not for beginners, and its cinema reflects this complexity. It is a cinematography of survival and brutal beauty.’
– Werner Herzog
After May’s survey of Brazilian cinema’s modern foundations, June moves between points of origin and renewal. The programme opens with Mário Peixoto’s Limit (1931), a landmark of silent‑era experimentation, before returning to works forged under the military dictatorship. From that turbulent period we present masterpieces by Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Leon Hirszman – pillars of Cinema Novo – and the anarchic Rogério Sganzerla of Cinema Marginal, alongside the work of Tereza Trautman, who boldly defied the sexism of her era. The season then traces the Retomada of the 1990’s – Brazilian cinema’s rebirth. It followed the crisis triggered during Fernando Collor de Mello’s government, which closed Embrafilme – the agency that supported national cinema – and witnessed the popular success of Carlota Joaquina, Princess of Brazil and the growing prominence of women behind the camera.
We then travel to the near-present and the work of internationally celebrated filmmakers such as Karim Aïnouz, Anna Muylaert and Cao Hamburger. Contemporary films by a new generation shift the centre of authorship, with examples of Black Brazilian filmmakers reclaiming the screen. Finally, a special focus of four titles on Indigenous and Amazonian perspectives places Indigenous voices at the heart of Brazil’s cinematic future, while Héctor Babenco’s 80th birthday is celebrated with a selection of his key works.
Renata de Almeida and Adriana Rouanet, season curators
Presented as part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025-26 and supported by Instituto Guimarães Rosa.
Season programme
Limit + pre-recorded intro by film critic Rafa Sales Ross
Mythic, dreamlike and newly restored – Brazil’s most legendary silent film.
Barren Lives + intro by Dr Tiago de Luca, University of Warwick
A landmark Cinema Novo classic of drought, migration and human resilience.
The Woman of Everyone
A delirious anti-heroine tears through São Paulo, in a defining classic of Brazil’s Cinema Marginal.
The Woman of Everyone + intro by Natalia Christofoletti Barrenha, Cinema Mentiré
A delirious anti-heroine tears through São Paulo, in a defining classic of Brazil’s Cinema Marginal.
Saint Bernard + intro by season co-curator Adriana Rouanet
A stark masterpiece of ambition, patriarchy and psychological control.
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Sonia Braga dazzles in this sensual and hugely popular classic.
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands + intro by Natali Juste Simmonds, London Latino Film Festival
Sonia Braga dazzles in this sensual and hugely popular classic.
Carlota Joaquina, Princess of Brazil
An irreverent hit that reignited Brazilian cinema in the 1990s.
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
A lyrical road movie wherein cinema and friendship cross Brazil’s arid countryside.
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures + intro by season co-curator Adriana Rouanet
A lyrical road movie wherein cinema and friendship cross Brazil’s arid countryside.
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
Football and dictatorship are viewed through a child’s eyes in this tender story of absence and belonging.
The Second Mother
A funny, piercing look at class and care inside a privileged São Paulo household.
The Second Mother + intro by Cine Brazil
A funny, piercing look at class and care inside a privileged São Paulo household.
The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão
A ravishing melodrama of sisterhood and resilience, set in 1950s Rio.
The Day I Met You
A chance encounter transforms routine and longing in this quietly luminous romance.
White House
A vibrant new perspective on favela life, rooted in community, loss and lived experience.
White House + Q&A with director Luciano Vidigal
A vibrant new perspective on favela life, rooted in community, loss and lived experience.
Same Old West
The Brazilian western is reborn as a stark tale of revenge, solitude and territory.
Cyclone
A working-class playwright battles patriarchy and scandal to claim her future in early-20th-century São Paulo.
The Nature of Invisible Things
This tender coming-of-age story finds two girls turning a hospital into a world of friendship and discovery.
Brazilian Indigenous and Amazonian Perspectives
This selection centres the Amazonian experience across five decades and presents an urgent cinema where Indigenous perspectives and ancestral voices redefine the Brazilian territory.
Iracema: Uma Transa Amazônica
A once-banned, newly restored road movie captures a transforming Amazon.
Iracema: Uma Transa Amazônica + discussion presented by People’s Palace Projects
A once-banned, newly restored road movie captures a transforming Amazon.
My Foreign Land
Collective cinema rethinking land, identity and belonging from Indigenous perspectives.
The Father and the Shaman + UK Premiere: Replikka and Q&A with Felipe Tomazelli, co-director of The Father and the Shaman and Yula Rocha, producer of Replikka
An Indigenous director confronts the rift between pastor and shaman inside his own home.
The Father and the Shaman + UK Premiere: Replikka
An Indigenous director confronts the rift between pastor and shaman inside his own home.
A Héctor Babenco Tribute
Argentine by birth and Brazilian by choice, Babenco redefined Latin American cinema, blending brutal realism with poetic lyricism. These films celebrate his social legacy and ability to give voice to the marginalised.
Lúcio Flávio, o Passageiro da Agonia
This thriller about a real-life criminal was a major visual reference for Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent.
Pixote + pre-recorded intro by filmmaker Héctor Babenco
This visceral portrayal of abandoned childhood and institutional violence in Brazil is considered a masterpiece of social realism.
Pixote + intro by director Bárbara Paz
This visceral portrayal of abandoned childhood and institutional violence in Brazil is considered a masterpiece of social realism.
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Héctor Babenco’s Oscar-winning drama features outstanding performances by William Hurt and Raul Julia as two very different inmates in a Brazilian prison.
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
A tender portrait of one of Brazil’s most influential filmmakers, Héctor Babenco.
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die + Q&A with director Bárbara Paz
A tender portrait of one of Brazil’s most influential filmmakers, Héctor Babenco.
Families
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