2009 / 66 min / documentary
“A philosophical meditation on economic privilege….the footage is staggering”. Peter Debruge, Variety Magazine (EUA)
“Effortlessly provokes thoughts on inequality, satisfaction and oblivion”. LA Weekly, Review (EUA)
“…A specialist in high risk interviewing….Mascaro has, quite literally, achieved the height of his pretensions.” Diego Trerotola, El Amante (ARG)
“Innovative and risky film making, bringing us closer to a social group that is rarely seen in cinema.” Jury, FIDOCS, Chile
“A rare and discomforting, yet poetic insight into the lifes of the Brazilian elite” Cahiers du Cinema
SYNOPSIS
What does it mean to have a penthouse in poverty-filled Brazil? Interweaving resident interviews and vistas from above, High-Rise “Um Lugar ao Sol” is a hypnotic and revealing examination of the real view from the top. This feature length documentary presents an analysis of the dominant Brazilian classes through a dialogue with the inhabitants of nine penthouse apartments in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Recife. During the film, penthouse residents open up their homes to reveal their thoughts on social inequality, politics, and the world that surrounds them, as well as discussing more intimate subjects such as their desires, fears, insecurities, prejudices and personal histories. Through these interviews and a poetic visual and sound narrative, the documentary provides an evocative insight into the ‘verticalization’ of the Brazilian cityscape and deepens our understanding of what drives people to live in penthouses. High-rise is a film about height, status and power that questions the elite in a way that has never been done before in Brazilian cinema.
CREW LIST
Director and Screen Writer: Gabriel Mascaro
Producer: Gabriel Mascaro
Executive Producer: Stella Zimmerman e Rachel Ellis
Production Manager: Lívia de Melo
Director of photography: Pedro Sotero
Editor: Marcelo Pedroso
Original Sound Track: Iezu Kaeru e Luiz Pessoa
Direct Sound: Phelipe Cabeça
Production company: Símio Filmes
Associate producers: Plano 09
AWARDS
– BAFICI – Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (Special Mention)?- FIDOCS – Festival Internacional de Documentales de Santiago (Chile) (Jury Prize for best documentary)
– Festival de Film Etnografico do Rio de Janeiro (Jury Prize)
FESTIVALS AND SHOWINGS
– BAFICI – Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (Special Mention)
– FIDOCS – Festival Internacional de Documentales de Santiago (Chile) (Jury Prize for best documentary)
– Visions du Reel (Switzerland) (Official Selection)
– Los Angeles Film Festival (USA) (Official Selection)
– AFI Latin American Film Festival (USA) (Official Selection).
– Munich International Film festival (German) (Official Selection)
– CPH:DOX (Denmark) (Urban Stories).
– I Semana dos Realizadores do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (Official Selection)
– II Janela Internacional do Cinema do Recife (Brazil )(Official Selection)
– 33 Mostra Internacional de Cinema em São Paulo (Brazil) (official competition)
– Forum Doc (Brazil) (Official competition)
– Bratislava International Film Festival (Slovakia) (Official Selection)
– Havana Film Festival (Cuba)(Official Selection)
– Festival de Film Etnografico do Rio de Janeiro (Jury Prize).
– Mostra de Cinema de Tiradentes (Oficial Competition)
– Miami International Film Festival (Documentary Competition)
– Cartagena Film Festival (Documentary Competition).
– Tartu World Film Festival, Estonia (Documentary Competition)
-7ºIndieLisboa – Festival Internacional de Cinema Independente(Pulsar do Mundo)
– Tiburon International Film Festival (official Competition)
– Rencontres Cinémas d’Amérique Latine de Toulouse (official Competition)
– Malaga Film Festival (official Competition)
– Las Palmas International Film Festival (Panorama)
– London International Documnetary Festival (official Competition)
– Uruguay International Film Festival (official Competition)
– Latin American Film Festival, Netherlands (official Competition)
– Planet Doc Warsaw, Poland (official selection)
– Edoc, cinememoria, Ecuador (documetary competition).
– Bangkok World Film Festival, Thailand (official Competition)
– Novo Cine Madird, Spain (Oficicial Selection).
– MARFICI, Argentina (Official Selection)
– 1º Distrital, Mexico (Oficial Selection)
– St. Louis International Film Festival (EUA)
– DocYard/The LEF Foundation-Brattle (EUA)
– Festival Internacional de Artes em Bruxelas
– Taiwan Latino Film Festival 2011 (CHI)
– Sembrando Cine-Lima (Peru)
– 92Y Tribeca – New York (EUA)
– Open City London Documentary Festival
– ArchiFacts Film Festival Antwerp
– Brazil Film Festival 2013 (Sydney)
– 35º Festival des 3 Continents – États des Lieux: Regards sur le Cinéma Brésilien Contemporain – Nantes, França
REVIEW
CAHIERS DU CINEMA
Variety Reviews – High-Rise – Film Reviews – L.A. Fest – Review by Peter Debruge
XXI Magazine – FRA
SALES
films@desvia.com.br
