RIP Hector Babenco, my favourite South American film director (Pixote, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Carandiru). I was lucky enough to hear him talk in the London Film Festival when he presented Carandiru in 2003. Most people – including myself – first came across Brazilian cinema with the 1981 film Pixote, a Cannes Festival stunner. […]
Photo Essay: Brazilians
As you may have heard many times, much of the joy of travelling in Brazil is meeting the Brazilians. As I say in my book: Brazil’s strength lies in its people and not in institutions that have been imposed, modified and mutated over the centuries to serve an elite; the ruling classes have failed the […]
Down and out in São Paulo
I have commented before that by 2001 the never-ending parade of 1990s slums from Guarulhos airport into São Paulo had disappeared. That there were no more people walking to work on the motorways at 6am. That in 2002 the election of President Lula has brought some hope to the people of Brazil with its Fome […]