Brazil thread 2023-

[Red Velvet]

Brazil will have FOUR movies in the new Cannes Film Festival that goes from May 14th to May 25th. One of them is in the Main Competition for the Palme D’Or.

Three are made by Brazilian Directors, another is fully about Brazil but directed by an American director. These are the films:

- Motel Destino, by Karim Ainouz (Main Competition)
- Lula, by Oliver Stone (Special Screenings)
- Baby, by Marcelo Caetano (Critics’ Week)
- The Falling Sky, by Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha (Directors Fortnight)

Motel Destino, the one competing for the Palme D’or, is an erotic thriller about a woman with an abuse relationship with an ex-cop that owns a local motel. Her life changes after a man coming from a socio-educational institute crosses her path.

Lula, as the title indicates, will be a documentary about recent persecutions against the now Brazilian president, focusing on the Car-Wash accusations period and jailing of Lula that happened in 2010s, alongside his later return. Everything will be told through the view of one of US most acclaimed directors, Oliver Stone (from “Platoon”).

Baby, will tell the story of a young man named Wellington, who after leaving a detention center for youngsters, is all by himself in the streets of São Paulo. That is until he visita a Porn Cinema and meets a Boy Prostitute named Ronaldo, whom he will enter a relationship full of passion and conflicts.

The Falling Sky, is based on a book that is actually a personal report of a Yanomami Indigenous Shaman called Davi Kopenawa, providing a look inside of the Indigenous tribe customs and also how they are affected by illegal miners and invaders threatening their land, while also portraying Mr. Kopenawa position of being a leadership voice to exterior audiences in Brazil and abroad. One of the two directors of this film, Eryk Rocha, is the Son of legendary Cinema Novo Brazilian Director Glauber Rocha (“Black God, White Devil” and “Entranced Earth”).

[buritobr]

French chef Erick Jacquin, who lives in Brazil and owns a restaurant here, decided to swin wearing a suit in order to protest against some of his customers, who go to his upper class restaurant wearing T-shirt, bermuda shorts and sandals. At least we saw a french taking a bath!

[buritobr]

Lula will not attend the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. The ministry of foreign affairs Mauro Vieira will represent him. Lula and some ministers will attend a dinner in the Portuguese Embassy in Brasília.
Far-right leader André Ventura said during the campaign that if he becomes the prime minister, Lula would not be allowed to visit Portugal. Chega didn't win the election, Ventura didn't become the prime minister, Lula was invited, even though, he declined the invitation.

Brazilian dictatorship fell 10 years after the fall of the Portuguese dictatorship. The transition was different, the Brazilian dictators were not punished. Even though, there was a similiarity: in both Portuguese speaking countries, there was a center-left dominance of the politics in the early years after the redemocratization. And there was a difference: the Portuguese economy did better after the redemocratization than the Brazilian economy.
 After some decades, a far-right emerged in Brazil. There is a far-right growing in Portugal, but I don't believe Ventura will become the prime minister one day.

[buritobr]

According to Datafolha poll, 8% of the Bolsonaro's voters and 7% of the Lula's voters believe that the Earth is flat. As we can see, the belief in the flat Earth is an overrated problem. No more than one digit, and maybe some of the people who answer this poll were making fun. Science denial is dangerous for the society, we could see it during the Covid19 pandemic, when many Bolsonaro's supporters had wrong views on lockdowns, masks, cloroquine, vaccines. But the belief on flat Earth is very far away to be the most important problem.

In 2019, the famous Brazilian paleontologist and youtuber Pirula predicted that in the next 5 years, most of the pentecostal evangelic would believe that the Earth is flat. Pirula usually does a good job on providing information about science to big audiences, but this forecast was wrong.

[buritobr]

Pope Francis was visited by former president Dilma Rousseff

[buritobr]

Madonna's big free concert at Copacabana teaches us the basics of multiplier.
Most of the money to pay the expenses came from private sponsors. The municipal government of Rio de Janeiro also spent some money. But this event attracted many visitors, they spent in hotels and restaurants, and this extra tax renevue due to this extra consumption inside the city can cover the spending of the municipal government.

John Maynardonna Keynes

[Red Velvet]

It was a huge event! More artists should consider making these open shows at Copacabana Beach instead of paid shows in stadiums as they attract a LOT more audience and basically mobilize the entire city.

Madonna’s Celebration Tour was already a bigger deal in Brazil than Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour simply because of that, it was an open event that everyone could join on the beach, like New Year’s Party or Carnaval.

I guess this event happened this way because Madonna filmed this show for the concert movie and it was a good idea to have it being in an open place such as the Copacabana Beach. The city of Rio also gains a lot from tourism just by paying to bring an artist of the likes of Madonna for a free concert, so it’s a win-win.

I don’t see something like this happening in the future, there aren’t new international names in entertainment that are as iconic to attract an audience like this.

[Red Velvet]

Full Madonna show in Rio, at Copacabana beach:

It had an audience of 1.6 Million people, easily breaking the record for not just the biggest Madonna show ever, but the biggest Female Solo performance as well.

Shows in Copacabana Beach usually tend to draw huge crowds, the record for biggest performance of all-time, male or female or group, also belongs to Copacabana Beach for a 1994 Rod Stewart show in New Years’s Eve that drove an audience of over 4 Million people.

Top 10 as of today:

1. Rod Stewart at Copacabana Beach (Brazil, December 31st 1994) - 4.2 Million people
2. Jean Michael Jarre at State University of Moscow (Russia, September 6th 1997) - 3.5 Million people
3. Jorge Ben Jor at Copacabana Beach (Brazil, December 31st 1993) - 3.0 Million
4. Jean Michael Jarre at La Défense (France, July 14th 1990) - 2.5 Million people
5. Love Parade Festival at Westfalenhallen (Germany, July 19th 2008) - 1.6 Million people
6. Monsters of Rock Concert at Tushino Airfield (Russia, September 28th 1991) - 1.6 Million people
7. Madonna at Copacabana Beach (Brazil, May 4th 2024) - 1.6 Million people
8. The Rolling Stones at Copacabana Beach (Brazil, February 18th 2006) - 1.5 Million people
9. Jean Michael Jarre at Downtown Houston (USA, April 5th 1986) - 1.3 Million people
10. Diana Ross at Central Park (USA, July 21st 1983) - 1.2 Million people

[buritobr]

There is no economic crisis, no big scandal. Even though, Lula's approval rate is almost 1/2 because it's close to 100% in the group of people who voted for him and almost 0% in the group of people who voted for Bolsonaro.
Although PT improved in comparison to 10 years ago, the Right still uses the Internet better as a tool of communication. PT had hard times to adapt to the online era.

Some communication breakdowns this week might have hurt the government.

Massive floods and landslides due to heavy storm killed already 55 people in Rio Grande do Sul. There was great damage on cities, highways.

The selection exam for employment in the federal public service would take place today. This exam would have been applied in big cities in all 27 states. The are 2.1M candidates in the whole country competing for 6640 jobs in the federal public sector. This exam would be a big triumph for Lula's administration, since Temer and Bolsonaro almost didn't hire employees for the federal public sector. Since there is no possibility of people from Rio Grande do Sul to take this exam today, because many roads are blocked, politicians of this state asked the federal government to delay the exam. In the middle of the week, the government declined this request. We could see in the Internet that many people, from the left to the right, became very angry because of this decision. Only one day later, the government agreed to delay the exam, but a damage on the image of the government was already created.

The other incident took place yesterday. A journalist told at 8am that first lady Janja would attend Madonna's concert after invitation of the mayor Eduardo Paes. It would be a bad public relation demonstration for the government: after the tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul, people close to the president should not have fun. Some PT hardline supporters told in the X that it's not wrong her attend the concert. Only at 4pm, the government stated that the news was not true and that Janja would not attend Madonna's concert.

[Red Velvet]

We should be getting these big open concert shows in Copacabana once a year instead of once a decade.

Last time I remember an event like this was The Rolling Stones in 2006 and that’s already 18 years ago! Mayor of Rio wants to make one of this every May from now on but let’s see if those are just empty promises.

https://twitter.com/eduardopaes/status/1786992817241284878

Prepare yourselves! From now on, May will be the month to celebrate the most incredible of all cities! There will always be someone to beat the previous attendance record. Rio is desired by the world. We have to be proud of that. The challenges are many but we live in a special place. Let's take care and be affectionate with our city. We put on a show this week  with @Madonna! Long live Rio and the Cariocas! ❤️❤️❤️🤪🤪🤪

[buritobr]

The updated number of deaths due to the floods in Rio Grande do Sul is 95. Many cities are under water. Many people lost their homes. Since many roads are still blocked, and the Airport of Porto Alegre is out of service, supplies need to be delivery by helicopter or boat. Donations come from all other Brazilian states. There is no expectation that the rain stops in the next days. The situation can get worse. After the end of the storms, a large reconstruction program will be necessary. Infrastructure works in the lake Guaíba and in the river Taquari will be necessary to hold the water in the case of rise of level due to heavy rain.
The tragedies related to weather in Rio Grande do Sul is a clear result of the global climate change. There was a big flood in 1941, but it was an isolated event. In the 21st century, many floods took place in a row. It is very often.

You can read about it (and see the pictures) in this BBC article here https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68968987

In the Instragram official account of the government of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, you can see information about how people who are not in Brazil can also help https://www.instagram.com/governo_rs/

[Red Velvet]

Biggest effects of climate change in Brazil will be:

- Higher temperatures throughout ALL the country, but especially higher in the Center-West

- Smaller Hydric Flows in the North and the Northeast, with higher risk of Hydric crisis in the Northeast in Dry seasons as access to water can be more difficult there and the gradual Desertification of the Amazon Rainforest in the North

- Larger Hydric Flows in the South, with higher risk of Flooding in the region

We are already seeing evidences of all these 3 trends and it’s only the beginning. Crazy to see Rio Grande do Sul under water, especially a city like Porto Alegre, but it’s not really that unexpected.



Precipitation variation prognostic for the next years (2010-2040; 2041-2070 and 2071-2099). More Blue = Increased Precipitation; More Red = Decreased Precipitation:



Temperature variation prognostic for the next years is even more desperate as there’s no way to escape the increase everywhere but it’s worsening faster in the Center-West of Brazil and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay:

[Red Velvet]

Porto Alegre (PoA) is the 11th biggest city in Brazil, with 1.3 Million people. Capital of Rio Grande do Sul, here are some videos of the situation in the city, stressing that even higher levels of precipitation were measured in many interior cities of the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The beginning of the flood in a street, you can watch the water levels rising over time:

A Caiman swimming on the streets:

Drone overview of PoA:

More extensive drone footage and video of a bridge collapsing due to the higher level of the river:

PoA football stadium:

PoA airport has been flooded as well and it won’t operate for at least for the entirety of May. Brazilian news video but it was the only one I could find with internal images of the airport:

[Red Velvet]

This is the order that the Brazilian films will premiere in Cannes:

1. The Falling Sky (Directors Fortnight) - Sunday, May 19th
2. Lula (Special Screenings) - Sunday, May 19th
3. Baby (Critics Week) - Tuesday, May 21st
4. Motel Destino (Main Competition) - Wednesday, May 22nd

Cannes Film Festival will go through May 14th to May 25th. I will see if it’s worth creating a thread for the festival (I am excited about the Competition films line up in its entirety) or if I’ll just comment about the reception for the Brazilian films in here.

The Brazilian competition film will be the 18th film from competition to premiere and will do it in the same day as the Portuguese film, which I also want to see. Full Main Competition Line-up with the order in which the films will come up is this (in spoilers):

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

Tuesday, May 14th
- Opening Ceremony

Wednesday, May 15th
1. Wild Diamond, by Agathe Riedinger (France)
2. The Girl With the Needle, by Magnus Von Horn (Denmark)

Thursday, May 16th
3. Bird, by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom)
4. Megalopolis, by Francis Ford Coppola (United States)

Friday, May 17th
5. Three Kilometers to the End of the World, by Emanuel Parvu (Romania)
6. Kinds of Kindness, by Yorgos Lanthimos (United States / United Kingdom / Ireland)
7. Oh, Canada, by Paul Schrader (United States)

Saturday, May 18th
8. Caught by the Tides, by Jia Zhang-ke (China)
9. Emilia Pérez, by Jacques Audiard (Mexico)

Sunday, May 19th
10. Limonov - The Ballad, by Kirill Serebrennikov (France / Italy)
11. The Substance, by Coralie Fargeat (France)

Monday, May 20th
12. The Apprentice, by Ali Abbasi (United States)
13. The Shrouds, by David Cronenberg (Canada)

Tuesday, May 21st
14. Anora, by Sean Baker (United States)
15. Marcello Mio, by Christophe Honoré (Italy / France)
16. Parthenope, by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)

Wednesday, May 22nd
17. Grand Tour, by Miguel Gomes (Portugal)
18. Motel Destino, by Karim Ainouz (Brazil)

Thursday, May 23rd
19. Beating Hearts, by Gilles Lellouche (France)
20. All We Imagine as Light, by Payal Kapadia (India)

Friday, May 24th
21. The Seed of the Sacred Fig, by Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran)
22. The Most Precious of Cargoes, by Michel Hazanavicious (France)

Saturday, May 25th
- Closing Ceremony and Awards

[Red Velvet]

QUAEST poll shows that 99% of Brazilians believe the ongoing Flood Tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul is at least somewhat related to Climate Change.

When asked if the floods had relation with Climate Change, these were the answers from all Brazilians:

- Yes, fully related - 64%
- Yes, partially related - 30%
- Yes, a little related - 5%
- No, not at all - 1%

[buritobr]

There was a cerimony in the Assembly of the State of São Paulo to celebrate the anniversary of the victory against the nazis. The Russian Ambassador attended. I don't know why the Ambassadors of the US, UK and France were not there.

Here you can see the event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfvdb9moV74

4:41 Brazilian National Anthem
8:34 Russian National Anthem
17:18 Speech of the Russiam Ambassador
30:44 Speech of a member of the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations
50:40 Katiusha, a very cute Russian youtuber who lives in Brazil, speaks in a very cute Portuguese about his great grandfather, who fought in the Red Army
53:50 the Soviet War Flag was waved in order to take a picture of all the audience