[Brazil@Harvard] João Moreira Salles and Oswaldo de Setti de Almeida in Boston - Today

February 27th, Wednesday, 7:00PM New England Premiere Balagan Film Series, the Film Study Center at Harvard University and The Brazil Studies Program at DRCLAS Presents: Santiago (2006) 80 minutes By João Moreira Salles (Brazil) Discussion with Director Coolidge Corner Theatre 290 Harvard St. Brookline, MA Tickets: $9 general admission João Moreira Salles is one of Brazil’s foremost documentary filmmakers. In 1992 he began shooting a film about Santiago, the butler in his childhood home who left an indelible mark upon the family. Santiago was an educated man who, in addition to his work, produced some 60,000 pages of stories documenting his surroundings as well as tales of aristocratic lifestyles, including that of the house in which he himself served. Through his personal voice-over, Salles sheds light on his family and childhood, and on the reasons why the film took so long to complete. The result is an elegant mosaic with two parallel narratives, dealing with universal topics such as memory, identity, and documentary filmmaking. Santiago has been screened at some of the most important documentary film festivals and recently took the Grand Prize at Cinéma du Réel in Paris. Director Biography João Moreira Salles is a documentary filmmaker. In 1985 he wrote the screenplay for the documentary series ‘Japan, a Journey in Time’. In 1987 he directed ‘China, The Empire of the Center’ and wrote the screenplay for ‘Krajberg, the Poet of the Remains’. Two years later he directed the television series ‘America’ and the documentary ‘Poetry is one or two lines and behind it a huge landscape’ about poet Ana Cristina César. In 1990 he directed Blues. For cable channel GNT, he directed the documentary ‘Jorge Amado’, about race relation in Brazil and the series ‘Football’, co-directed with Arthur Fontes. Together with Katia Lund, he directed ‘News of a Personal War’, about urban violence in Brazil. In 2000 he directed ‘The Valley’, a documentary about the environmental devastation of the Paraíba Valley and ‘Santa Cruz: Holy Cross’ about the growth of an evangelical church in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Both these films were made with journalist Marcos Sá Corrêa. In 2002, João Salles directed ‘Nelson Freire’, his first documentary for cinema. In 2004, he launched “Intermissions” a behind-the-scenes look at the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian president. This documentary reveals Lula’s private life in the brink of a historic moment in Brazilian politics. For more information please to go http://www.balaganfilms.com _____ Wednesday February 27, 2008 4-5.30 ADR, Taubman 5th floor Community Development featuring Oswaldo de Setti de Almeida, Dhana Khatiwada and Maria Quezada. Moderated by Timothy Prestero, CEO of Design that Matters Oswaldo Setti de Almeida Filho, Brazil Oswaldo is the founder of Acão Moradia (Action Housing) an NGO that has engaged engineers and other technical professionals to develop technologies for the poor in Uberlandia, Minas Gerais state. Acão Moradia operates a factory that uses a mixture of earth and cement to create environmentally sound bricks for new homes. The project uses a simple manual-mold and time-dry process that eliminates the need for ovens, wood burning, and oil. Families who reside in the outskirts of Uberlândia use the ecological bricks to build low-cost homes with technical assistance, taking 25% off the final cost of a house. Ação Moradia has assisted more than 500 families in Uberlandia. Oswaldo is now working together with the community in other initiatives to generate income for the neediest families and to provide professional training for the unemployed. He has also established a partnership with a Brazilian federal bank to provide loans with no collateral for single mothers (without credit history) build their houses. For more information please contact Danyela Moron at danyela_moron(a)ksg08.harvard.edu -- Marcio Siwi Fellow / Program Officer Brazil Studies Program Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies 1730 Cambridge St. Cambridge, MA 02138 tel (617) 495-5435 http://drclas.harvard.edu/brazil