Brazilian films about achieving a dream

Paulo Coelho is the world’s most translated living author, his books having sold over 165 million copies. But he was not always the inspirational global phenomenon he is today. Like the heroes in his spiritual classics THE ALCHEMIST and THE PILGRIMAGE, he long-searched for his calling, flirting with death, escaping madness, falling in love, and making rock ’n’ roll history in Brazil, all-the-while striving for success as a writer. A wild ride through a lifetime of stranger-than-fiction adventures, PAULO COELHO’S BEST STORY is a profoundly moving film that goes straight to the heart of the most beloved literary guru of our time, revealing the most incredible wonder of all: the man behind the masterpieces.

In the periphery of São Paulo, the pregnant single mother Cleuza works as maid in the apartment of a middle-class family. Each of her sons has a different unknown father: the oldest, Dênis, has a baby son that lives with his mother and he works as motorcycle courier.

A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes.

The life of the owners of Circus Esperança, Puro Sangue e Pangaré, father and son, who plays two clowns. At a certain point, Pangaré starts showing tiredness and sadness for being an unhappy clown.

Iremar is part of a rodeo troupe that tours the Brazilian northeast. His task is to send bulls into the arena. Intensely exciting physical scenes alternate with contemplative episodes that sketch a painterly portrait of the members of the troupe. Sublime images, which alternate with a less idyllic reality: the hard work amidst the cows. Jointly they form a fabulous choreography, against the background of a rapidly changing society.

The Story of longtime UFC Featherweight champion and the struggles facing him on the road to the top.

The selfish Dr. André Luiz dies and awakes in the limbo called "Umbral". After a painful period in the gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought in a white light to "Nosso Lar" (meaning "Our Home"). He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace awaiting

About the life and adventures of a gang of abandoned street kids known as "Capitães da Areia" (Captains of the Sands), in Salvador, Bahia, during the 1950s.

In lawless badlands, reclusive Cabeleira sets out to discover the fate of his gunman father and grows to be a feared assassin himself.

After being released from prison, Dr. Nise da Silveira is back at work in a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Rio de Janeirom where she refuses to employ the new and violent electroshock in the treatment of schizophrenics. Ridiculed by doctors, she is forced to take on the abandoned Sector for Occupational Therapy, where she would start a revolution through paintings, animals and love.

A strange black spot approaches the coast, bringing death and destruction to a fishing village. In a desperate flight to escape the chaos, lonely Albino fights for the great love of his life at the risk of his own soul.

The third episode of the Cities of Love franchise, Rio, I Love You is an anthology, created by 10 visionary directors from across the globe. The story line of each segment focuses on an encounter of love in a different neighborhood of the city, demonstrating the distinctive qualities and character of that location. The film serves to bridge gaps between cultures, educating and entertaining the audience, while celebrating unique and universal expressions of love.

Rachel is a girl, adopted by an upper middle class family, who rebelled at 17 and left her family and studies at a traditional college in Sao Paulo to become a call girl. Shortly after starting work, she decided to write a blog about her experiences. Since some clients thought she looked like a surfer she adopted the name "Surfistinha" which means little surfer girl.

As a privileged teenager living in an affluent suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Jean has little to worry about beyond games, grades and girls. But as his overbearing father drags the family into debt, Jean is forced into a change of lifestyle which opens his eyes to the world beyond his 'casa grande' - not least that of the feisty, mixed-race firecracker Luiza. Cultures, classes and generations collide in this engrossing coming-of-age drama from Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1950. In the conservative home of the Gusmão family, Eurídice and Guida are two inseparable sisters who support each other. While Guida can share with her younger sister the details of her romantic adventures, Eurídice finds in her older sister the encouragement she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a professional pianist.

1980s. Brazilian television exploding in color and auditorium programs not so politically correct. In the middle of this fervor, Augusto Mendes, a young rising actor, seeks his place in the sun. From porn studios to soap operas, he finally finds success and fame when he becomes "Bingo", a TV host clown from one of the audience leader TV shows for children. It turns out that behind the rice powder and red nose, nobody knows who he is.

In 1951, New York poet Elizabeth Bishop travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit Mary, a college friend. The shy Elizabeth is overwhelmed by Brazilian sensuality. She is the antithesis to Mary’s dashing partner, architect Lota de Macedo Soares. Mary is jealous, but unconventional Lota is determined to have both women at all costs. This eternal triangle plays out against the backdrop of the military coup of 1964. Bishop’s moving poems are at the core of a film which lushly illustrates a crucial phase in the life of this influential Pulitzer prize-winning poet.

Exposed by his girlfriend through a video on the Internet, Bruno tries to revive his reputation, but all he can do is get into a series of traps (Cilada, in Portuguese). Cilada.com is a comedy about love and betrayal that shows the power of the Internet to transform small intimacies and slips in fame and constraints globalized.

Based on real events, and set in Rio de Janeiro, A Wolf at the Door is the nerve-rattling tale of a kidnapped child and the terror of the parents left behind. When Sylvia discovers her six-year-old daughter has been picked up at school by an unknown woman, police summon her husband, Bernardo, to the station for questioning. From that point on, the film takes increasingly sinister turns as it delves into the events that led to the girl’s kidnapping. With plot twists that will keep the audience on the edge of their seats, A Wolf at the Door is a darkly disturbing journey into the extreme limits of the human capacity for obsession and revenge.

An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves.

Afro-Brazilian poet and politician, the legendary Carlos Marighella. Driven to fight against the erosion of civil and human rights following the CIA-backed military coup of 1964 and the brutal, racist right-wing dictatorship that followed, the revolutionary leaves behind his wife and son to take up arms, becoming a notorious enemy to the power structure.

A man is obsessed with John Travolta's disco dancing character from "Saturday Night Fever".

In 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States and the Second World War was over. Right? Wrong. For eighty percent of the Japanese community in Brazil, Japan had won the war and defeat was nothing more than American propaganda. The few immigrants that accepted the truth were persecuted. Some were hunted down and assassinated - by their own countrymen - causing the start of a new, private war. Dirty Hearts is a thriller and love story told by the wife of one of the fanatics dedicated to preach Japanese victory. Little by little, she watches her husband, a hard-working immigrant, become an assassin and their love story fade away.

An aspiring dancer moves to New York City and becomes caught up in a whirlwind of flighty fair-weather friends, diminishing fortunes and career setbacks.

Rosa is in her late 30s, a child of the 1970s with divorced parents. She lives with her own family in São Paulo. Overwhelmed by an eruption of individual passions, lies and the expectations of three generations, she tries to discover who she really is.

After leaving her daughter Jessica in a small town in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends the next 13 years working as a nanny to Fabinho in São Paulo. She has financial stability but has to live with the guilt of having not raised Jessica herself. As Fabinho’s university entrance exams approach, Jessica reappears in her life and seems to want to give her mother a second chance. However, Jessica has not been raised to be a servant and her very existence will turn Val’s routine on its head. With precision and humour, the subtle and powerful forces that keep rigid class structures in place and how the youth may just be the ones to shake it all up.

Theo is living the good life in an upscale Brazilian neighborhood. He’s a hardworking doctor, husband, and father. However, Theo has chosen his career over his family, and little by little he discovers that his world is crumbling around him. His beloved mentor and surrogate father is dying, and his wife announces that she wants a divorce. Yet nothing prepares him for the day when he comes home to discover that his 15-year-old son, Pedro, has disappeared. Theo takes to the road in search of his son. In a journey that leads him throughout Brazil, Theo discovers what really matters to him. Searching for his missing son, Theo finds himself.

This is the story of Nina, a 13-year-old girl who is transported to the universe of Telurian, a mysterious and Earth-like world inhabited by various fantastic creatures. There she will join a group who must prevent the master of darkness, Lord Dark, from seizing the Red Scroll and opening dimensional portals in various worlds, bringing darkness and destruction upon them.

A deep dive into the hidden industry of digital cleaning, which rids the Internet of unwanted violence, porn and political content.

Miguel is a federal agent, highly trained and skilled in weapons. After experiencing trauma in his personal life, he sets out on a journey of revenge, assuming the identity of a masked vigilante. The Awakener decides to do justice with his own hands by exterminating corrupt politicians.

After his girlfriend's murder, Daniel, a physics student becomes obsessed with the idea of going back in time to stop the tragedy. He lets himself be consumed by his own obsession until after years of isolation, he finds the solution. Daniel then gives up his future and returns to the past. However, he is not the same man.

Little Secret is a film with three interlocked stories all connected by a single secret that converge to reveal the tragic yet beautiful lives of three families and how hope, dreams and destiny can unite people from very different parts of the world.

Donato fails in his attempt to save a drowning man, and meets one of the man's friends. He decides to start his life over, but pieces of his past keep coming after him.

In 1951, Marcus Messner, a working-class Jewish student from New Jersey, attends a small Ohio college, where he struggles with anti-Semitism, sexual repression, and the ongoing Korean War.

In the ghettos of the greatest metropolis in Brazil, a midst flying bullets, love and any number of hurdles, young people's stories mingle and collide in the search for dreams and choices. Inspired by true stories, the feature film 'Broken Town' reveals the struggle faced and the choices made by teenagers who have always been surrounded by weapons, crime, and hardship.

Hunting for Hedonia explores how the burgeoning technology of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) will impact human identity and our sense of self. DBS is a revolutionary tool in neuroscience and as a treatment it is crossing over from movement control in Parkinson's to alleviating mental illness. Trials are underway in depression, OCD, PTSD and eating disorders.

Pierre is seventeen and in the middle of puberty. He plays in a band, has sex at parties and secretly tries on women’s clothing and lipstick in front of a mirror. Ever since his father’s death, his mother Aracy has looked after him and his younger sister Jacqueline, spoiling them both. But when he discovers that she stole him from a hospital when he was a new born baby, Pierre’s life changes dramatically. In her new film, director Anna Muylaert explores the mother-child relationship through the eyes of a rebellious son whose whole world unravels overnight.

An isolated villa, a family just like the others. Michele has remarried beautiful Damiana, and lives with her and her daughter Fiore, a seductive teen with whom he has an intricate relationship. In the middle of the night, Sergio, an ex-con, bursts in the villa and abducts the family. his mission: retrieve and bring back to Caligola, the man who hired him, some important documents, now seeminlgy buried somewhere in the greenhouse near the house.

A chronicle of the life of Spanish playwright and poet Lope de Vega, who dominated Spain's early Golden Age of Theater in the 16th century. Lope returns home from war and enters the theater world when a producer's beautiful daughter takes a shine to him. They embark on a passionate affair as his plays begin to win popular acclaim.

An adaptation of the eponymous song by Renato Russo, a famous Brazilian singer and composer who in the style of Bob Dylan knew how to delight crowds by telling stories and singing with his lyrics. Focusing on the love story of outlaw João do Santo Cristo with Architecture major student Maria Lúcia, the movie takes place in Brasilia in the early 80s. In a clash of interest, drug dealers and the police conflict with one another,while the end of the military dictatorship in the Capital of Brazil, Brasilia takes place. The wanderings and tedium of a young rocker, who lived in a city still being built, are the backdrop for this story.

Dona Hermínia is back, but now rich and famous since she is the host of her own successful TV show. However, the overprotective character will have to deal with her children's departures, as Marcelina and Juliano decide to move out. In counterpart, she will welcome, as a visitor, her sister Lúcia Helena, who's been living in New York.

A small town in an Argentinian province, 1975. The life of Claudio, a successful lawyer, gets complicated when he has a stupid quarrel with a stranger in a crowded restaurant.

Four childhood friends are reunited at a wedding in Rio. But when they accidentally kill a young man during a party that gets out of hand, they are forced to flee the city in a crazy adventure.

A boy is left alone in a Jewish neighborhood in the year of 1970, where both world cup and dictatorship happen in Brazil.

Split into three chapters, "Cabrito" tells the story of a man haunted by his loved ones. The film begins with the story of his father and how the family became cannibal. The second part focuses on his mother and how she awakens the worst in her son with her twisted religiousness. The last part is focused on the main character's final catharsis, when he kidnaps his first love, Rosalita, and reproduces the inhuman bizarre caring to which he was subjected in his family relations.

Josefina, a radical homemaker, committed a crime of passion that led her to self-exile at a coastal town. She tries to find peace in solitude, immersed in the house routine, while coexisting with a past of lovers and Molotov cocktails. Her body suffers the metamorphosis of aging, and she must undergo cataract surgery.

Billionaire cousins Bastiano (Terence Hill) and Antonio (Bud Spencer) are two savvy businessmen, at least in one regard. They want to close a large deal, although they have to fear for their lives because of it since their competition won't even stop at murder. Therefore they have an agency find two look-alikes from the United States, stuntman Elliot Vance (Terence Hill) and the jazz saxophonist Greg Wonder (Bud Spencer). These accept the job offer, initially not knowing why they really have been hired. Nonetheless Elliot and Greg manage to fight their way through all kinds of situations without too much trouble. Additionally they quickly come to like the jet-set life. The resulting damage to their reputation provokes the Coimbras to return to Rio ahead of time. This puts them right into the sights of their enemies, alongside the cousins' look-alikes.