Pictures of Ghosts (Portuguese: Retratos Fantasmas) is a 2023 Brazilian documentary film essay< --- >: A Quick Pan Across TIFF's Wavelengths|MUBI written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The film revisits Kleber's hometown, the Brazilian city of Recife, through the historical prism of the cinemas he once frequented, based on his own personal archival footage, remembering what used to be idyllic places, now closed, that constituted an important time-marker in the evolution of Brazilian society.
The film had its world premiere at the Special Screenings section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May, followed by screenings at the Main Slate section of the 2023 New York Film Festival, and at the Wavelengths section of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It was theatrically released in Brazil by Vitrine Filmes on 24 August.
It was selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.
Plot The documentary shows how downtown Recife’s cinemas from the 20th century have mostly disappeared. The documentary presents it as a kind of archaeological site of sorts that reveals aspects of life in society which have been lost.
Production During seven years, while watching his own old videos at his office, on VHS, Betacam, and Hi8 cassettes, or on MiniDV, personal files and records which also contain photographs and audio recordings, Kleber began the film developing, also aiming to shoot new footage with modern equipment. Official production started in 2017, before the shooting of 2019's Bacurau, as a side project, with its own time frame.
Release The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, in the Special Screenings section. Followed by screenings at the 2023 New York Film Festival, at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and at the 27th Lima Film Festival. It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'Icon' section and was screened on 5 October 2023.
The film had its Brazilian premiere on 14 August 2023, in Recife, and was released in the rest of the country on 24 August 2023, by Vitrine Filmes.
Reception Critical response Pictures of Ghosts has an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 33 reviews, and an average rating of 8.1/10.Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".Metacritic
Accolades Award Date Category Recipient Result Cannes Film Festival 21 May 2023 L'Œil d'or Kleber Mendonça Filho Lima Film Festival 18 August 2023 Best Documentary Pictures of Ghosts Chicago International Film Festival 22 October 2023 Gold Hugo for Best Documentary Valladolid International Film Festival 28 October 2023 Tiempo de Historia Award Tiempo de Historia Second Prize
See also List of submissions to the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Brazilian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links
Pictures of Ghosts on MUBI Official trailer