The OU Lusophone Club will host the first OU Brazilian Film Festival on March 25 through April 4.
The Lusophone Club is a student organization for those who speak or are interested in the Portuguese language and the cultures of those who speak it.
The festival will showcase eight films over the two weeks, featuring themes of politics, race, history, the environment, gender and sexuality, and will be held in Zarrow Hall.
“My favorite part about the festival is that it aims to attract many different groups of people and interests through film,” said Eduardo Campbell, club president. “People should come to this festival to learn more and enjoy the beauty of art through the form of film.”
The first film to be screened March 25 will be “Waste Land,” a documentary about an artist who travels to the world’s largest landfill in Rio de Janeiro and creates contemporary art out of unlikely items. The film will begin at 3:45 p.m.
On March 28, “Carandiru,” a dramatic film from director Hector Babenco will screen at 4:45 p.m. This film tells the real-life experiences of Dr. Drauzio Varella who begins AIDS prevention in the overfilled Brazilian prison of Carandiru.
The stories continue on week two of the festival with “The Way He Looks” on April 1. Based on the short film “I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone,” this coming-of-age film shows Leonardo, a blind teenager in Brazil, searching for independence and finding romance along the way. This film will begin at 4:45 p.m.
The festival concludes April 4 with the animated short “Konãgxeka: The Maxakali Flood.” The Maxakali indigenous language translates “Konãgxeka” to “big water.” This film tells the Maxakali legend of the worldwide flood through animation from indigenous Maxakali people.
The other films include: “The Second Mother,” which will screen at 4:45 p.m. March 26; “Me You Them” at 4:45 p.m. March 27; “The Year My Parents Went on Vacation” at 4:45 p.m. April 2; and “Familia Alcantara” at 4:45 p.m. April 3.
“This event aims to bring entertainment but also awareness about Brazilian society,” Campbell said. “The organizing team worked hard selecting a variety of films for the OU family and the Norman community to enjoy.”
The OU Brazilian Film Festival will begin March 25 and end April 4. All films will be shown in Zarrow Hall, Room 105.
