International Competition
Picture of Ghosts
Retratos Fantasmas
Picture of Ghosts is a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking, set in the urban landscape of Recife, the Brazilian coastal capital of Pernambuco: a historical and human territory, examined through the great cinemas that served as places of conviviality during the 20th century. Having hosted dreams and progress, these places have also embodied significant transformation of social practices. Combining archival documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories, Picture of Ghosts is a map of a city through the lens of cinema.
Screenplay Kleber Mendonça Filho
Editing Matheus Farias
Photography Pedro Sotero
Sound design Kleber Mendonça Filho
Suond and mix Ricardo Cutz
Producer Emilie Lesclaux
Co-Producer Silvia Cruz; Felipe Lopes
Production Cinemascópio
Co-Production Vitrine Filmes
Kleber Mendonça Filho
A journalism graduate from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Kleber Mendonça Filho has a long career as a critic and programmer. He was head of the film section of the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation for 18 years and wrote for the “Jornal do Commercio de Recife,” as well as other publications such as the “Revista Continente” and the “Folha de São Paulo.” He is artistic director of the Janela Internacional de Cinema do Recife and chief curator of the Cinema section at the Moreira Salles Institute. As a filmmaker, he switched from video in the 1990s, experimenting with fiction, documentary, and music videos, to digital and 35mm in the 2000s. His short films (A Menina do Algodão, Vinil Verde, Eletrodoméstica and Recife Frio) have received more than 100 awards in Brazil and abroad. His first feature film is the documentary Crítico (2008). In 2014 he made The World Cup in Recife, a 15-minute documentary made for Canal SporTV and Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre. Neighboring Sounds (2012) was his first fiction feature film, screened at more than 100 international festivals, commercially distributed in 14 countries, and won 32 awards. The film was Brazil’s representative at the 2014 Oscars and considered “One of the 10 best films of the year” by “The New York Times.” Aquarius (2016), his second feature film, has had an even more prestigious career, debuting in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and distributed in more than 100 countries. In 2018 he co-directed and co-wrote, with Juliano Dornelles, Bacurau, which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019 and won the Jury Prize.