The 13th Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival came to a close tonight after thirteen days in which more than 300 films were screened and a busy market section played host to several hundred international industry guests.

The festival closing saw the presentation of the Redentor awards, the trophy sculpted on Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer statue, handed out to the new Brazilian films and documentaries which competed in the Premiere Brazil section of the festival and voted for by the official juries and also the public. A total of 22 Redentors were presented in the closing ceremony at Rio’s Odeon Petrobras cinema.

The big winner of the night was newcomer film director Vinicius Coimbra’s debut feature A Hora E A Vez de Augusto Matraga, a Brazilian ‘western’ styled drama set in the rural farm lands of middle Brazil in which redemption and revenge are the key themes. Based on a short story by one of Brazil’s classic authors, Guimarães Rosa, the film received four jury prizes as well as winning the popular vote for Best Film.

Dominating the awards, Coimbra’s film received the top prize of Best Film as well as a hat trick of honours for its cast: leading actor João Miguel was named Best Actor; seasoned actor José Wilker received the Best Supporting Actor award, and one of Brazil’s best loved character actors, Chico Anísio was honoured with a Special Jury Prize.

For Miguel it is his third win of the Best Actor title, previously taking it for Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (2005) and Estomago in 2007.

The film’s cross-audience appeal was underlined by the fact that for the first time in the festival’s history, the jury pleasing film also received the public endorsement, who also gave it their Best Film nod.

In another first, the jury and the public also voted together on the award for Best Documentary, which they both presented to Eduardo Coutinho’s As Canções (Songs) a nostalgia-filled journey through the songs which have formed the backdrop to Brazilian lives and political history over the past five decades.

In the Documentary section the official jury gave its Special Jury Prize to Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla’s Olhe Pra Mim de Novo (Look At Me Again) a road movie following the steps of a woman wanting to become a man amidst the conservative attitudes of north east Brazil.

A second first-time filmmaker also made big waves at the festival – director Eduardo Nunes’ debut film Sudoeste, a spiritual odyssey through Brazil’s north east, shot impressively in black and white, received the festival’s Special Jury Prize as well as the Redentor for Best Photography for cameraman Mauro Pinheiro Jr. The film also received the FIPRESCI prize for Best Latin American film selected from all first and second films screened in Première Brazil and Première Latina.

The FIPRESCI jury was made up FIPRESCI president Klaus Eder, and journalists Joan Dupont (International Herald Tribune/New York Times), Jeronimo Rodrigues (Noticias/NY 1 News), Roger Lerina, (Jornal Zero Hora, Brazil) and Susana Schild (Brazil). Commenting on the difficult choice the jury faced in choosing the film to award, Eder said: “across both sections - Première Brazil and Première Latina, it was an astonishing collection of films.”

Further films receiving special attention were Petrus Cariry’s Mãe e Filha (Mother and Daughter) which received an Honorable Mention from the official jury, and also shared the Best Cinematography award with Sudoeste, and Roberta Marques Rânia which was voted Best Film in the Novos Rumos/New Trends section of Premiere Brazil.

A further big winner of the night was director Karim Aïnouz, recognised for the third time at the festival as Best Director, for his cinematic love letter to the city of Rio, O Abismo
Prateado (The Silver Cliff). As a screenwriter and director, Aïnouz has had a hand in more prize-winning films at the Rio festival than any other filmmaker. His previous best director awards were received for Suely in the Sky, in 2006, and Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque te Amo ( I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You) co-directed with Marcelo Gomes in 2010.

Best Script was presented to newcomer director/writer Odilon Rocha for his A Novela das 8 (Prime Time Soap) a melodrama which portrays life under the dictatorship when Brazilians were beginning to discover a new sense of freedom in the evening soap operas and the disco fever which swept the country in 1978.

Best editing award was presented to Jordana Berg for Marcelo Yuka no Caminho das Setas (Marcelo Yuka: Follow the Signs).

The most glamorous awards of the night were given to actresses Camila Pitanga, receiving the Best Actress award for her role in Beto Brant and Renato Ciasca’s Eu Receberia as Piores Notícias dos seues Lindos Lábios (I’d Receive The Worst News From Your Beautiful Lips) referred to by some as ‘9 ½ Weeks set in the Amazon’, and
Best Supporting Actress winner Maria Luísa Mendonça for her performance in Tadeu Jungle’s Amanhã Nunca Mais (Tomorrow Never Comes). Pitanga is rapidly becoming o of Brazil’s most sought after and photographed actresses having won numerous awards for her first major starring role in the highly popular TV novella Paraíso Tropical.

The official jury gave their Best Short award to Cíntia Domit Bittar for Qual Queijo Vocé
Quer? (Which Cheese Do You Want?) and and Honorable Mention to Wagner Novais for his short Tempo de Criança (Child Time).

The popular jury instead chose as their favourite short Bruno Melo’s Passageiro (In Passing).


Festival do Rio - Rio de Janeiro International Film festival
Première Brazil Full Awards 2010:


Premiere Brazil Jury Awards
Roberto Farias, director, (Jury President), Adriana Falcão, screenwriter, Aluizio Abranches, filmmaker, Pandora da Cunha Teles, producer, and Vanessa Regone, producer, documentary.

Best Fiction Feature: A HORA E A VEZ DE AUGUSTO MATRAGA (Matraga)
Directed by Vinicius COIMBRA
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111072.htm

Special Jury Prize: SUDOESTE (Southwest)
Directed by Eduardo NUNES
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111070.htm

Honorable Mention: MÃE E FILHA (Mother and Daughter)
Directed by Petrus CARIRY
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011110939.htm

Best Documentary Feature: AS CANÇÕES (Songs)
Directed by Eduardo COUTINHO
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111342.htm

Documentary Special Jury Prize: OLHE PRA MIM DE NOVO (Look At Me Again)
Directed by Kiko GOIFMAN and Claudia PRISCILLA
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111211.htm

Best Short: QUAL QUEIJO VOCÉ QUER? (What Cheese Do You Want?)
Directed by Cíntia DOMIT BITTAR

Short - Honorable Mention: TEMPO DE CRIANÇA (Child Time)
Directed by Wagner NOVAIS

Best Director: Karim AÏNOUZ for O ABISMO PRATEADO (The Silver Cliff)
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111345.htm



Best Actor: JOÃO MIGUEL for A HORA E A VEZ DE AUGUSTO MATRAGA (Matraga)

Best Actress: CAMILA PITANGA for EU RECEBERIA AS PIORES NOTÍCIAS DOS SEUS LINDOS LÁBIOS (I’d Receive The Worst News From Your Beautiful Lips)
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111202.htm
Best Supporting Actress: MARIA LUÍSA MENDONÇA for AMANHÃ NUNCA MAIS (Tomorrow Never Again)
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111529.htm

Best Supporting Actor: JOSÉ WILKER for A HORA E A VEZ DE AUGUSTO MATRAGA (Matraga)

Special Jury Prize: CHICO ANÍSIO for A HORA E A VEZ DE AUGUSTO MATRAGA (Matraga)

Best Screenplay: ODILON ROCHA for A NOVELA DAS 8 (Prime Time Soap)
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011110977.htm

Best Photography: JORDANA BERG for MARCELO YUKA NO CAMINHO DAS SETAS (Marcelo Yuka: Follow The Signs)
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011111523.htm

Best Editing: MAURO PINHEIRO JR for SUDOESTE (Southwest) and PETRUS CARIRY for
MÃE E FILHA (Mother and Daughter)


FIPRESCI Best Film Award: SUDOESTE (Southwest)
Directed by Eduardo NUNES


NOVOS RUMOS/New Trends Awards
Jury: Clélia Bessa, producer, Matheus Souza, director, Waldir Xavier, director.

Best Film : RÂNIA directed by Roberta MARQUES
Stills: http://2011.festivaldorio.com.br/downloads/2011110937.htm

Audience Awards

Best Fiction Feature: A HORA E A VEZ DE AUGUSTO MATRAGA (Matraga)
Directed by Vinicius COIMBRA

Best Documentary Feature: AS CANÇÕES (Songs)
Directed by Eduardo COUTINHO

Best Short: PASSAGEIRO (In Passing)
Directed by Bruno MELLO