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BRAZIL | São Paulo | August/September

São Paulo International Short Film Festival

Deadline: May
Categories: All genres accepted: Brazilian panorama, Latin America panorama festival, international film festival, Brazilian retrospective, special programme
Requirements: 16mm, 35mm (optical only). Running time under 35 minutes. Entries must have been produced during the 18 months before festival. Films must be subtitled in English, Spanish or Portugese if not original language
Awards: Non-competitive
Fees: None
Festival and administrative address: São Paulo International Short Film Festival, Associação Cultural Kinoforum, Rua Simão Alvares, 784/2, 05417-020 São Paulo, Brazil
Tel: +55 11 3034 5538
Fax: +55 11 3815 9474
Email address: spshort@kinoforum.org; info@kinoforum.org
Director: Zita Carvalhosa
Website: http://www.kinoforum.org

Visitor Report

Fernando Tiberini visits São Paulo International Short Film Festival

By Fernando Tiberini  (Mar 21, 2007)

Most visitors of Brazil are likely to bypass Sao Paulo for Rio de Janeiro or Salvador de Bahia in the North East of the country, places which are more likely to correspond to the expected typically Brazilian experience. Sao Paulo seems to be much more understated and sober, in an almost European way. As the largest city in South America, with roughly double the size of London, it is a colossal metropolis with several centres and culturally very diverse neighborhoods. Apparently, even the Paulistanos themselves regularly get lost in their own city.

When I arrived there at five o'clock in the morning it was therefore quite a relief to get picked up at the airport. It turned out that throughout my stay the organisers of the 17th Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival were very welcoming and helpful.

On the first day I was invited to have lunch with Stephen Rimmer, Arts and Creative Industries Manager at the British Council in Sao Paulo. We exchanged ideas about the usefulness of culture exchange programs for artists in general and for filmmakers in particular. Sadly, most of the existing artist-in-residence programs exclude filmmakers completely, even though the exposure to a different cultural environment is key to artistic development and is - at least in my case - directly reflected in their output.

The film festival lasted for ten days and comprised a whole range of programs and competitions. During the five days of my visit it was impossible to see even a fraction of the films which were shown. Besides the International, the Latin American and several Brazilian programs there were several special programs focusing on areas like politics, children or experimental film. Even though the five screening venues were concentrated in the same area of Sao Paulo, it wasn't always easy to get there on time due to the endless traffic jams. However, at the MIS (Museum of Image and Sound), which was the main screening venue and meeting point, there was a DVD library where it was possible to watch any of the films featured in the festival.

With this variety of different programs it was possible to see films of all genres and styles, from very low budget films to properly funded films, from very abstract and visually appealing films to more naturalistic dialogue-driven films. As was my experience in other short film festivals, pure visual aesthetics seems to go over narrative a bit too often for my taste. One of my guesses is that the UK is one of the few places where experienced actors are willing to work in a low-budget production, giving writers and directors the freedom to opt for dialogue and character driven films. Throughout the week, the festival organised several lunches, dinners and parties, and even a visit to a football game between Sao Paulo and Fortaleza. All these activities helped me get in contact with other filmmakers from all over the world, especially from Latin American countries. The exchange of experiences related to film, culture and society was probably the most enriching feature of my visit. In terms of the content of the films, it was interesting to see how the socio-political background influences filmmakers of these countries in a much more direct way than it is the case in Europe. On the other side, the desire to look at the brighter and funnier side of life seems to be universal.

As some of the other filmmakers had won prizes at some important festivals, I was interested to find out in what way this had helped them to further their careers. There were also many organisers of other short film festivals present. By talking to them I found out more about the festival circuit and how I should go about promoting my next short film - the main question being whether it would be better to send it to festivals specialised in short films or if it would be worthwhile to apply first to the big feature film festivals like Berlin, Cannes or Venice, as they only accept films which are premieres.

On the whole, it was definitely my most enjoyable visit to a film festival, and I am very grateful to the British Council for their financial support. It is an experience I wouldn't want to have missed.

Fernando Tiberini is the director of Maria with Vincent

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