Pictures of Ghosts – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

PICTURES OF GHOSTS – Review by Diane Carson

February 28, 2024February 28, 2024 Diane Carson autobiographical, brazilian films, Cinema São Luiz, documentary, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Pictures of Ghosts, Recife, São Luiz cinema

Universally, rural, suburban, and urban locations have experienced dramatic, often unwelcome changes altering established businesses and individuals’ homes. Because of a deeply felt nostalgic regret over such transformation of beloved spaces, Brazilian writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s documentary Pictures of Ghosts stirs longing for possibly simpler but certainly different times, specifically for Filho’s hometown cinemas in Recife, northeastern Brazil.

Reviews

PICTURES OF GHOSTS – Review by Jennifer Green

October 26, 2023October 26, 2023 Jennifer Green autobiographical, brazilian films, documentary, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Pictures of Ghosts, Recife, São Luiz cinema

A love letter to the Brazilian city of Recife as well as to cinemas and urban centers of a bygone era, Pictures of Ghosts is an intelligent documentary with relatively limited audience appeal. Brazil’s sensible nominee to the International Feature Film Oscar, it premiered in Special Screenings at Cannes and offers an evocative exploration of the nation’s own cinema history and golden age of movie theaters.