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Birthday:
11-22-1937
Deathday:
09-15-1987 (49 years)
Birthplace:
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Biography
Leon Hirszman (Rio de Janeiro, November 22, 1937 — Rio de Janeiro, September 15, 1987) was a Brazilian filmmaker and one of the main exponents of the movement known as Cinema Novo. A member of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), his work is marked by the influence of central Marxist theses in political debates in Latin America and by the politicized representation of the working class.
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Their works
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Bahia de Todos os Sambas
Act like Self (uncredited)
event1996
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Between August 23 and 31, 1983, at the "Circo Massimo", in Rome, there was a musical event that brought together artists from Bahia. This film brings a recording of the event, also featuring backstage, rehearsals, testimonies and some relaxing moments of these great names in Bahia's music.
Improvised and Purposeful: Cinema Novo
Act like Self
event1967 star_border 7.5
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Originally produced for German TV, Improvised and Purposeful is a firsthand look at the "Cinema Novo" movement (otherwise known as the 'Brazilian New Wave'). Director Joaquim Pedro de Andrade focuses on six Cinema Novo filmmakers working in Rio in 1967.
ABC of a Strike
Act like Self
event1990 star_border 7.6
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ABC of a Strike captures the 1979 metal workers strikes outside of São Paulo. The footage sat untouched until after the death of highly-regarded director Leon Hirszman in 1987, by which time the material had a new relevance. The gripping film captures the negotiations between the labor unions and the factory bosses and shows the birth of the region’s Worker’s Party, as well as the emergence of its charismatic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Rising from extreme poverty, Lula gained national prominence as a union activist during the late 70s and early 80s. After being jailed during his time as a union leader, he eventually becomes Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010.
Memórias do Grupo Opinião
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2019
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Follows the story of Opinião, a theatre group created in 1964 during the early Brazilian dictatorship period to oppose the government through artistic performances. Considered the first left-wing response to the dictatorship, the group gathered now famous Brazilian artists such as Nara Leão, Maria Bethânia, João do Vale and Millôr Fernandes.
Cinema Novo
Act like Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
event2016 star_border 6.7
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A deep investigation, in the way of a poetic essay, on one of the main Latin American movements in cinema, analyzed via the thoughts of its main authors, who invented, in the early 1960s, a new way of making movies in Brazil, with a political attitude, always near to people's problems, that combined art and revolution.
Afterword: Images of the Unconscious
Act like Himself
event2014
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Dialoguing directly with the trilogy of documentaries “Images of the Unconscious”, made between 1983 and 1986 and based on clinical cases and therapies with a humanist approach and artistic expression, conducted by the pioneering psychiatrist Nise da Silveira (1905-1999) – screenwriter of that film –, here is presented, in two parts, an interview with the doctor, a student of Carl Jung and a pioneer in the application of non-violent treatments for psychiatric patients, given to director Leon Hirszman, in 1986. The conversation is divided in two parts: the first, "The emotion of dealing", the second, "The egress".
S. Bernardo
Writer
event1972 star_border 7.6
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The story of Paulo Honório, a poor ploughman who becomes a rich farmer. Obsessed by his desire to get even richer, he doesn't pay much attention to his wife, Madalena, a teacher who reacts against his tyrannical ways.
Imagens do Inconsciente - Em Busca do Espaço Cotidiano
Director
event1987 star_border 10
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Part 1 of the "Images of the Unconscious" documental series.
Which Country is this?
Director
event1981
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Didactic documentary on the History of Brazil
They Don't Wear Black Tie
Director
event1981 star_border 8.2
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Otavio is an idealistic union leader trying to organize workers at a factory to resist the company's exploitative practices. His son, Tião, one of the employees, is more of a realist and doesn't want to risk losing his job by striking. This clash of perspectives puts the father and son at odds. Fortunately, Tião's mother, Romana, is on hand to act as a moderator between the two opinionated men.
Cinco Vezes Favela
Director
event1962 star_border 7.8
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Five segments about the hardships faced by people living in slums on hills in Rio de Janeiro.
Images of the Unconscious
Director
event1987 star_border 7
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In hopes of unraveling the causes and cure for various forms of insanity, a psychiatrist in Brazil created the Museum of Images from the Unconscious in 1952. It gathered paintings and drawings made by mental patients from all over Brazil. Many of the works in the museum are paired with the case-histories of the patients who created them in this fascinating film.
The Deceased
Writer
event1965 star_border 7.3
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After visiting a fortune teller, Zulmira is informed that a blonde woman will threaten her peace. After talking to her husband Toninho, she suspects that her cousin Glorinha may be that blonde.
Imagens do Inconsciente: A Barca do Sol
Writer
event1987
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The episode dives into the mystical universe of Carlos Pertius, the son of a family of French immigrants, hospitalized at the age of 29. After facing personal problems such as the death of his father, one day he caught a glimpse of a cosmic image, which he named “the planetarium of God”. He was incarcerated at Praia Vermelha hospital, in Rio de Janeiro, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1946, he began to attend the studio created by Nise da Silveira, becoming fond of it as if it were his home. His works are marked by the presence of mandalas, signs of his attempts to organize psychic chaos.
Maioria Absoluta
Director
event1964 star_border 9
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Statistics, interviews and historical information on illiteracy and inequality in land distribution in Brazil's countryside.
Partido Alto
Director
event1976 star_border 7.3
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The history of Partido-Alto, a musical subgenre derived from Samba, with roots in the batucada of Bahia.
The Girl from Ipanema
Director
event1967 star_border 6.2
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Chronicles the life of a 17 year-old girl living in the upper-class Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Ipanema. Márcia lives a life of parties and spend her days among bohemians, musicians and intellectuals. While seeming happy in the outside, she's extremely anguished inside. Based on the famous song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.
Nelson Cavaquinho
Director
event1969 star_border 9
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A short film of lovely poetic, observational elements and interviews with the famed samba singer/songwriter Nelson Antônio da Silva, whose adopted last name ‘Cavaquinho’ refers to the small guitar-like instrument that he played and used to compose his songs.
Megalopolis
Director
event1973 star_border 6.3
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An analysis of the phenomenon of accelerated urbanization in Brazil, and more particularly in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Cantos de Trabalho - Mutirão
Producer
event1975 star_border 5
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Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.
América do Sexo
Director
event1969 star_border 5
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Film in four segments: "Colagem", "Balanço", "Bandeira Zero" and "Sexta-Feira da Paixão, Sábado de Aleluia", having in common a strongly allegorical and gross protest tone in the approach of its subjects.
No Reino das Mães - Adelina Gomes
Screenplay
event1987
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Adelina Gomes, a poor girl, daughter of peasants, with a primary education and some manual training, shy and submissive to her mother, had never had a boyfriend until she was 18 years old, when she fell in love with a man who was not accepted by her mother. He submitted himself to the fact and gradually withdrew until one day he strangled the cat, which he liked very much. By killing the cat, Adelina denied herself as a woman, taking refuge in madness with great aggression.
Ecologia
Director
event1973
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This film denounces the exploitation of natural resources by certain industries of extraction and transformation. This documentary is considered as the first Brazilian film on this theme.
Cantos de Trabalho - Cacau
Director
event1976 star_border 5
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Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.
Cantos de Trabalho - Cana de Açúcar
Director
event1976 star_border 5
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Between 1974 and 1976, while researching for his filme "S. Bernardo", Leon Hirszman shot three documentary shorts produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Education on the chores of the men who worked in the sugar cane fields in the town of Feira de Santana, in the cocoa fields of Itabuna, and in the efforts of building households in Chã Preta.
Faustão
Executive Producer
event1971 star_border 6
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A gang of bandits led by Faustão intervene in a fight between two members of rival families, the Pereiras and the Araújos. Henrique Pereira, son of Colonel Pereira, is wounded in an ambush. Faustão rescues him and demands the father to pay a ransom in exchange for the life of his son. The bandit makes it clear to Henrique that he is not a prisoner and that he is only obeying the law of the backlands. Lucena, a henchman working for the Araújos, finds Faustão and offers twice the amount being asked to the colonel in order to take Henrique as a prisoner, but the bandit refuses the offer. Colonel Henrique pays the ransom, but the son refuses to return home, even being aware of the feud between his family and the Araújos. The young man chooses to join the gang.
A Seventy-Four Year-Old Fellow
Producer
event1964
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Documentary about the history of Jornal do Brasil, founded on April 14, 1891. In 1965, the Jornal do Brasil marked its innovative and active position, as recorded in the documentary "A Seventv-Four- Year-Old Fellow" by the filmmaker Nelson Pereira dos Santos, and the story itself was in charge of confirming. In the following years, the newspaper would witness the most remarkable events of the second half of the twentieth century in Brazil and in the world. It would applaud the democratic struggles and independence of peoples, support social demonstrations against oppression and justice at all levels. Tirelessly, he did not hesitate to report the truth of the facts, regardless of the circumstances in which they presented themselves.
Pedreira de São Diogo
Screenplay
event1962 star_border 10
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Men work in a quarry on the edge of a hill where a slum is located, of which they are residents. The slope is blown up, advancing to the land near the shacks. Slum dwellers are warned that new explosions can cause damage. The community decides to place itself on the slope, preventing another explosion; without attitude, the foreman gives up on blowing up the hill.
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