FILM NEWS
South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Title: Madame Satã
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Specs: Brazil / Portugal 2002 35mm 105min subtitled
We pay tribute to an Australian filmmaker, Philip Brooks, who died last year. This is the last feature film he produced.
This is a beautifully crafted, sumptuous investigation of the pre-fame life of the Rio Carnival legend, João Francisco Dos Santos. Set in the seedy Lada district (Brazil's Montmartre) of the 1930s, Aïnouz magically weaves the key characters and social factors that drive this charismatic fighting cat with a Josephine Baker obsession.
Flamboyant and volatile, João lives with, and fiercely protects, his two “wives” (the prostitute and mother, Laurita, and the doe-eyed queen, Taboo) and despite his instincts falls for the handsome petty criminal, Renatinho. João might live on the edge of squalor and fight each day as it arrives, but his dreams are firmly fixed on becoming the star of his own cabaret act; a dream that he pursues, and his loyal “family” supports, despite bouts in prison, regular brawls, and seemingly insurmountable prejudice.
Out In Africa
Jhb Wed 17 / 8pm Fri 19 / 6pm Sat 20 / 10.30pm
CT Mon 22 / 10pm Wed 24 / 10.30pm Fri 26 / 8.30pm
Dbn Sat 3 / 10.15pm
All festival films
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