“Marighella”, Wagner Moura’s directorial debut, was the grand winner of the 21st Brazilian Cinema Grand Prix, held on the night of this Wednesday (10), with a presentation by Silvero Pereira and Camila Pitanga, at Cidade das Artes, in Rio de Janeiro.
The story of the left-wing guerrilla won eight of the 17 statuettes it competed for, including best fiction feature film. “Marighella” also won the first feature film director awards; actor (your Jorge, as Marighella); costume design (Veronica Julian); art direction (Frederico Pinto); sound (George Saldanha, Alessandro Laroca, Eduardo Virmond LIma and Renan Deodato); cinematography (Adrian Teijido) and adapted screenplay (Felipe Braga and Wagner Moura).
The director took the stage alongside his son, Bem Moura, 16, to receive the statuette for best new director. Bem asked to speak and said he wanted everyone to know how hard his father worked to make the film.
The R$ 10 million production premiered in November 2021 in Brazilian cinemas after a series of postponements and an imbroglio involving Ancine allegedly caused by the strong political content of the plot, which biographers the communist guerrilla Carlos Marighella, killed by the military dictatorship.
“I want to dedicate this award to the crew, the actors, the producers and everyone who believed in the film,” said Moura. “I didn’t choose an easy film to be my first,” she said.
When receiving the award for best fiction film, the director said that, if he could, he would always work with the same crew and cast of “Marighella”.
“Making ‘Marighella’ wasn’t just about making a movie,” he said. “It had it all. It was filmed in 2017 and released last year,” she recalled. Producer Andrea Barata Ribeiro said that the team even faced the threat of invasion of the set to tell the saga of the guerrilla.
The political tone of the night wasn’t just in the eight-award-winning production. Camila Pitanga sang “We want Lula again”, in the rhythm of the line “last year I died, but this year I don’t die”, a hit by Belchior that had just been performed by Silvero Pereira.
The audience linked to the cinema that filled Cidade das Artes then began to chant the pro-Lula “war cry”. “Stand up, right, people,” Pitanga asked. The actress was taken care of.
OTHER AWARDS
Best Comedy Feature Film: “Then I’m the crazy one”
Best Documentary Feature Film: “The Last Forest”
Best Children’s Feature Film: “Monica’s Gang – Lessons”
Best direction: Daniel Filho, for “The Silence of the Rain”
Best actress: Dira Paes as Rita in “Venice”
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
