Kleber Mendonça Filho, PORTRAITS FANTÔMES, 2023

Portraits fantômes is a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking, in the urban landscape of the city of Recife, Brazil. A historical and human territory, examined through the great movie halls that served as spaces of conviviality during the 20th century and embodied a transformation of social practices.

With a degree in journalism from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Kleber Mendonça Filho has had a long career as a critic and programmer. He was in charge of the cinema section of the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation for 18 years and writes for the Jornal do Commercio in Recife, as well as for other publications such as Revista Continente and Folha de São Paulo. He is the artistic director of the Janela Internacional de Cinema do Recife and chief curator of cinema at the Institut Moreira Salles.

As a filmmaker, he switched from video in the 90s, 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 won over 100 awards in Brazil and abroad. His first feature film is the documentary Crítico (2008). In 2014, he directed La Coupe du monde à Recife, a 15-minute documentary for Canal SporTV and Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre. Neighboring Sounds (2012) is his first feature-length fiction film, screened at over 100 international festivals, distributed in 14 countries and winning 32 awards. The film represented Brazil at the 2014 Oscars and was considered one of the 10 best films of the year by the New York Times. Aquarius (2016), his second feature, enjoyed an even more prestigious career, debuting in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and distributed in over 100 countries.

In 2018, he co-directed and co-wrote, alongside Juliano Dornelles, Bacurau, presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019 and awarded the Jury Prize.