Walter Salles - Brazil's Great Storyteller
During this year’s festival, there will be a retrospective of filmmaker Walter Salles’ films at Cinemateket in Oslo.
Walter Salles is one of the greatest filmmakers from Latin America. With his latest film, I’m Still Here, which this year earned Fernanda Torres an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, he presents a period drama set during Brazil’s junta era that hits like a sledgehammer – at a time when democracies around the world are under significant pressure.
Salles is the main profile of the 35th edition of the festival. His new film is competing for the festival’s top award, the Silver Mirror, and we are honoring him with a retrospective showcasing the major highlights of his career.
Foreign Land
At Cosmopolite Scene, we mark the premiere with a commissioned musical work inspired by the film, written and performed by a Norwegian-Brazilian ensemble led by Bugge Wesseltoft. The film journey begins with Foreign Land, also starring Fernanda Torres, and continues with classics such as Central Station, Midnight, and The Motorcycle Diaries – all films that have reached a wide international audience. With I’m Still Here, Salles reveals the full scope of his artistry, creating a socially resonant drama set in the past yet burning with relevance in today’s turbulent times.
The Motorcycle Diaries
The film is part of the festival’s anniversary project An Ode to the Missing, which explores the anatomy of dictatorship and the people who disappear under oppressive regimes. The methods used to silence opposition have changed since the junta era in Latin America, but have become far more sophisticated – and frightening – in our time. Films from the South look back, open debate, and raise the discussion about what lies ahead. With his new film, Walter Salles offers a stark warning against the kind of past we must never return to.
Welcome to a unique encounter with master filmmaker Walter Salles.
