Rio Film Fest: 'Blue Blood' Tops Premiere Brazil Competition

Lírio Ferreira's film picked up three Redentor awards; 'Point Blank,' 'Absence' and 'Obra' followed with two each

The Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival handed out its Redentor prizes on Wednesday, awarding films in the Premiere Brazil competition, which highlights new work by homegrown filmmakers.

Pernambuco director Lírio Ferreira’s Blue Blood topped the list with 3 prizes: best fiction feature, best director, and best supporting actor for Rômulo Braga.

In the feature length documentary line up, director Theresa Jessouroun’s Point Blank — which delves into police violence and corruption in the city of Rio — snatched the top two prizes in its category, scooping both the best film and best director awards.

There were also double wins for Chico Teixeira’s coming-of-age drama Absence — which picked best actor for Matheus Fagundes and a special jury prize — as well as for Sao Paulo director Gregorio Graziosi’s Obra which won best cinematography for DOP André Brandão and received the FIPRESCI best Latin American film award.

Bianca Joy Porte won the best actress award for her role in director Daniel Aragão’s father-and-daughter relationship drama I Swear I'll Leave This Town, while the best supporting actress award went to Fernanda Rocha for her part in Iberê Carvalho’s The Last Drive-in Theater.

Actor Othon Bastos (Central Station, Heleno) received a lifetime achievement award for his body of work, and Mexican writer and director Guillermo Arriaga (The Burning Plain, Babel) was presented with the FIPRESCI Latin American personality of the year award.

In the New Trends section of the competition, Redentors were awarded to Davi Pretto’s Castanha for best film, and Eva Randolph’s The Good Behavior for best short. Director Alfeu França received a special jury prize for his 30-minute short The White Goddess.

"The films awarded were chosen because they all have a strong personality and flirt between strong social commentary and poetic fables about the world we live in," said jury president Karim Ainouz (Praia do Futuro).

In the audience awards, best film went to Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa's Casa Grande, while the best documentary was Rodrigo Felha’s Favela Gay, which shows the life of the LGBT community in the slums of Rio de Janeiro setting the subject against a background of trafficking, evangelical churches and the neighborhood's everyday life.

The best short award was given to director Andre Amparo’s Max Uber, an inquiry into the work of the internationally acclaimed Brazilian visual artist.

Spread over fifteen days from Sept. 24 to Oct. 8, the Rio Film Festival has exhibited over 300 international and local films in more than 25 locations around the city, with an estimate of 300,000 tickets sold.

Full awards list below:

Premiere Brazil

Jury: Karim Ainouz, Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Malu Mader, Maurizio Braucci and Mike Downey

Best Fiction Feature

SANGUE AZUL (Blue Blood)
Directed by Lírio Ferreira
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Feature Length Documentary

À QUEIMA ROUPA (Point Blank)
Directed by Theresa Jessouroun
(Brazil, 2014 – World Premiere)

Best Short

BARQUEIRO (Boatman)
Directed by José Menezes & Lucas Justiniano
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Director, Fiction

Lírio Ferreira for SANGUE AZUL (Blue Blood)
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Director, Documentary

Theresa Jessouroun for À QUEIMA ROUPA (Point Blank)
(Brazil, 2014 – World Premiere)

Best Actress

Bianca Joy Porte for PROMETO UM DIA DEIXAR ESSA CIDADE (I Swear I'll Leave This Town)
Directed by Daniel Aragao
(Brazil, 2014 – World Premiere)

Best Actor

Matheus Fagundes for AUSÊNCIA (Absence)
Directed by Chico Teixeira
(Brazil/Chile/France, 2014 – World Premiere)

Best Supporting Actress

Fernanda Rocha for O ÚLTIMO CINE DRIVE-IN (The Last Drive-in Theater)
Directed by Iberê Carvalho
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Supporting Actor

Rômulo Braga for SANGUE AZUL (Blue Blood)
Directed by Lírio Ferreira
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Cinematography

André Brandao for OBRA (Obra)
Directed by Gregorio Graziosi
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Editing

Luisa Marques for
A VIDA PRIVADA DOS HIPOPÓTAMOS (I Touched All Your Stuff)
Directed by Maíra Bühler, Matias Mariani.
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Screenplay

Murilo Salles for O FIM E OS MEIOS (Means to an End)
Directed and written by Murilo Salles.
(Brazil, 2014 – World Premiere)

Special Jury Prize

AUSÊNCIA (Absence)
Directed by Chico Teixeira.
(Brazil/Chile/France, 2014 – World Premiere)

SPECIAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Othon Bastos

Premiere Brazil – New Trends

Jury: Felipe Bragança, Bianca Comparato, Cavi Borges

Best Feature Film

CASTANHA (Castanha)
Directed by Davi Pretto.
(Brazil, 2014)

Best Short

O BOM COMPORTAMENTO (The Good Behaviour)
Directed by Eva Randolph
(Brazil, 2014)

Special Jury Prize

A DEUSA BRANCA (The White Goddess)
Directed by Alfeu França
(Brazil, 2014)