Aline Morales is one of the main broadcasters of Maracatu in Toronto. From a meeting with members of Recife's Maracatu Estrela Brilhante Nação, she and her traveling companions reflect deeply on the different aspects of this genre, beyond music.
Social & External
A huge influence on world music, Nigerian artist Fela Kuti played many instruments, pioneered afrobeat music and served as a prominent activist for human rights in Africa. This 1984 documentary examines the life and music of the remarkable man. Using his music to raise awareness, Kuti embraced social justice themes. He died in 1997 of complications from AIDS. Footage from his legendary show in Glastonbury, England, is included.
Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti performs at the 1984 Glastonbury Festival. Originally produced for Arena.
Musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti recorded more than 60 albums to promote the magic of Afrobeat but never lost his political voice as an outspoken critic against widespread government corruption in Nigeria. This documentary examines the role that Fela, dubbed "Black President," played in shedding light on atrocities in his homeland and in promoting the ascent of African music worldwide.
In September of 2017, 77 year old Nigerian drummer Tony Allen was invited to record the album 'What Goes Up' with American band, Chicago Afrobeat Project. During their time together, Allen recounts how he and partner, late music legend, Fela Kuti, created the Afrobeat genre in Lagos, Nigeria. This hybrid live-action/animated film is a snapshot illustrating Tony Allen's story.
Travel with Major Lazer to Ghana and Nigeria to make the world smaller by making the party bigger. They are collaborating with cutting-edge Afrobeats artists including Mr.Eazi, Efya, Teni, Sarkodie and Amaarae as they explore the culture and history of Africa. Chasing the Sound: Major Lazer, watch now only on YouTube.
No measure of hellfire preaching can quell the boisterous and bawdy passions of Maracatu, an Afro-Brazilian burlesque carnival tradition with roots in slavery that takes place in the northeast state of Pernambuco. As the Falstaffian character Tiao, Valmir do Coco leads a nonprofessional cast of authentic Maracatu practitioners in a tale told through dance, music, and the supernatural, set in the sugarcane fields outside Recife.
Lisa, a plus-sized African American woman, concludes that her boyfriend broke up with her because of her weight. Now on quarantine lock down and alone, she will now use the next 40 days to try to lose the weight, in hopes of winning him back.
Afrobeat emerged in Lagos, Nigeria in the 1970s. The film follows an Afrobeat tube broadcast, from its early morning studio recording, to selling vinyl records and cassette tapes in town, into the evening where people dance feverishly to the music.
Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.
Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.
For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.
A documentary on the life and work of Brazilian rapper Cláudio Márcio de Sousa Santos, aka Speedfreak$.
Outskirts of Moscow. A girl comes to an unfamiliar apartment to look after a dog. After a while, she realizes that the owner of the apartment has disappeared. She finds herself into a series of people that have been taking care of the dog for years in that same apartment, creating a weird community around this strange absence of the owner.
An animated film that tells the story of Dian, a child bride whose dream of playing her favorite sport of badminton is cut short.
Intertwined stories from the gladiator/athletes participating to the Calcio Storico Fiorentino yearly championship.
Jun Hau Timi is a romantic tale of unexpected love in the heart of London. Samir, a dashing and fitness-conscious man from Nepal, is searching for the perfect partner. Shristi, a young and beautiful woman from India, is exploring life in the United Kingdom. One day, Samir decides to visit Tower Bridge in London. As he stands admiring the iconic landmark, he notices Shristi walking nearby. Captivated by her beauty, he approaches her and introduces himself. Shristi warmly responds, and the two strike up an instant connection. Eager to share the city's charm, Shristi takes Samir on a tour of London's landmarks, including London Bridge and other picturesque spots. Their friendship deepens as they spend more time together, and a spark of love begins to grow. The story conveys a simple yet profound message: love can happen anytime, anywhere, with someone who feels like destiny
Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.
Rick Belrow Livingston, in love with Broadway star Lisa, is sentenced to 30 days in jail for speeding through a small town. He persuades the judge's daughter Cindy to let him leave for one night, so that he can visit Lisa on her birthday. After that he goes on the town with Cindy and she falls in love with him. But Dr. Schemmer wants his son to become her husband.
It's the end of the century at a corner of the city in a building riddled with crime - Everyone in the building has turned into zombies. After Jenny's boyfriend is killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity. In order to stay alive, she struggles with Andy to flee danger.
One day, there was a problem while rendering the edited image. Usually, even though the video is not played back, Split frame and green flicker(R:1 G:137 B:1) occurred on the screen. This work is similar to a stuffing that sampled the errors of digital algorithms.
A group of students are preparing works for an art exhibition, they belittle a myth that "Any inanimate object that resembles a living thing, is not just a dead-object"
The Undertaker takes on "Sycho" Sid Vicious in a No Disqualification Match with the WWE Championship up for grabs. Bret "Hitman" Hart faces Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Submission Match with special guest referee Ken Shamrock. Mankind and Big Van Vader challenge Owen Hart & The British Bulldog for the WWE World Tag Team Championship. Hunter Hearst-Helmsley takes on Goldust and more!
Hillary and Bonnie meet one morning by the side of the road. They become fast friends, share their secrets, and, on a rising wave of frenzy, later that afternoon, murder an old woman. They did it, they say later, for fun.
A short comedy spoof about Universal Monsters and their everyday unconventional work done at their very own talent agency for their movies.
Italian-French costume dramedy that takes place in France in the end of 18th Century during the French Revolution. It is "The Marriage of Figaro" meets "The Dangerous Liaisons" and it tells the story of two women, Mathilde Seurat, the actress and Julie Renard, the aristocratic wife and a mother (Delphine Forest plays both) with the same face who came from the different parts of society and at one point exchanged their identities and their lives. The movie also features Giancarlo Giannini and great Vittorio Gassman.
A murder trial becomes a farce when a widow tries to convince the district attorney that she didn't drown her husband, with the help of an eccentric lawyer.
This short film follows a man lost in the woods driven by his fear of the unknown.