Felipe
Bragança

Felipe Bragança was born in 1980 in Rio de Janeiro, where he still lives today. After completing his film studies at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, he worked as a screenwriter and assistant director. As a filmmaker, working mostly in collaboration with Marina Meliande, he has so far produced three short films and two full-length feature films, and took part in the making of several other films as well. With a video letter, he initiated the experimental, compilation film “Desassossego” (2011) in which fourteen Brazilian directors participated. In addition, Felipe Bragança co-produced the website “Cinecta”; the film critics presented on that site enjoy high praise in Brazil.

Among other festivals, Felipe Bragança’s films were shown at those in Locarno, Rotterdam, Venice, Oberhausen, and Cannes. For the short film “Waterbound” (2003), the festivals in Brasilia and Sao Paulo honored him with the Best Director award. Bragança’s script for “Suely in the Sky” (2006) by Karim Aïnouz was awarded Best Screenplay in Thessaloniki. One of his current projects, “The River’s Bend,” received a grant of the Hubert Bals Fond in the Netherlands. In 2012, Felipe Bragança was a guest of the California Institute of the Arts in the United States.

With Karim Aïnouz, a guest of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program in 2004, Felipe Bragança embarked on a fruitful artistic partnership. They likewise collaborated on Aïnouz’s latest and nearly completed, feature film “Praia do Futuro”. One of Bragança’s subsequent projects is to be completed as a co-production with the Portuguese production company and artists collective “O Som e a Fúria”. Sandro Aguilar, also a guest of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program in 2013, belongs to this group of young filmmakers and producers.

Young people often play leading roles in Felipe Bragança’s films. To a large extent, the experimental, compilation film “Desassossego” (Disquiet, 2011) also devotes itself to the topic of youth. Marina Meliande and Felipe Bragança hoped for love, utopia, and explosions from the participating filmmakers. The work was shown at the film festival in Rotterdam. Felipe Bragança’s second, longer film, “A Alegria” (The Joy, 2010), was produced almost entirely with non-professional actors. One Christmas night, John is caught in an exchange of fire and then vanishes. But he turns up again. A ghost? Felipe Bragança and his co-director Marina Meliande call the story a “superhero movie”. According to the printed program of the non-commercial, movie theater Kommunales Kino Freiburg, “in a manner as perspicacious as poetic,” the film reveals “the soul of Brazilian young people, who dive into life without seeing the threatening apocalypse at large.” Among other important film festivals, “A Alegria” was shown in Cannes and Rotterdam.

“A Fuga da Mulher Gorila” (The Escape of the Monkey Woman, 2009) is a musical-adventure road movie about two young girls traveling in a minibus. The film came about during an eight-day journey through the environs of Rio de Janeiro. The plot evolves from researching the daily life of young people in Brazilian suburbs. What was created is a mix of realistic cinema and everyday observation, both of which combine with a story about youthful adventure and the universe of music. At the 2009 Mostra Film Festival, “A Fuga da Mulher Gorila” was chosen as “Best Film” by both the official and young people’s jury. Felipe Bragança’s debut film was also an official entry at the film competition in Locarno.

Jonas e a Baleia (Jonas and the Whale, 2006) tells a short story about killing. Jonas owns a motorcycle, a pair of shoes, and a revolver. One day he falls in love. And he kills a man. In 2006, the short film not only gained the Critics’ Award of the Luso Brasileiro de Santa Maria da Feira Film Festival, but was also shown at the festivals in Oberhausen and Cork.

Text: Maike Wetzel
Translation: Karl Edward Johnson