"Portraits and excerpts from Brazilian films from all times. Actors, directors and images that affirm cinema."
A nightclub singer and his partner escape mobsters by fleeing to Cuba with a beautiful heiress, who has inherited a haunted castle on an isolated island. The trio hunt for a hidden treasure and encounter a ghost, a zombie, and a mysterious killer...
Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner, Victor Price, and Dan's career takes a nosedive. In hopes of rekindling their romance and getting Vicky back on the boards with him, Dan follows her to a ritzy resort in the Canadian Rockies, where she and Victor are about to open their new act. But things get complicated when Dan wakes after a bender to find that he's hired an outlandish Latin secretary, Rosita Murphy, which makes Vicky think he's just up to his old tricks again.
The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an Argentine horse breeder against the wishes of their families—takes a backseat to the spectacular location shooting and parade of extravagant musical numbers, which include the larger-than-life Carmen Miranda singing the hit “South American Way” and a showstopping dance routine by the always amazing Nicholas Brothers.
An entertainer in Rio impersonates a wealthy aristocrat. When the aristocrat's wife asks him to carry the impersonation further, complications ensue.
A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
A ship company employee, Jay Williams, is sent to Florida where one of the company cruise ships is stuck on a reef off of the coast. He obtains waivers from all of the passengers with the exception of Nan Spencer, a department store salesgirl who wants her vacation now, not later. Jay is instructed to take Nan to Havana, set her up in the best hotel, and keep her entertained. She visits a nightclub where the star attraction is Rosita Rivas and meets Rosita's worthless manager, Monte Blanca, who makes a play for her. Trouble also comes in the form of Jay's fiancée, Terry McCracken, when a romance develops between Nan and Jay.
A talent agent sells his girlfriend to a nightclub – as two separate acts. The deception and constant costume changes are too much for his girl, and the men who have fallen for the different performers.
While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the American public through bond sales, morale-boosting USO tours, patriotic war dramas and escapist film fare. Comedian David Steinberg plays host for this star-studded, 90-minute documentary, which looks at the way Tinseltown helped the United States' war effort.
A documentary about Orson Welles's unfinished three-part film about South America.
Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.
Mother and daughter compete over same singing role and, unbeknownst to each other, the same man.
Burlesque queen Doll Face Carroll is dismissed from an audition for a legitimate Broadway show because she lacks culture. Her boss/manager Mike decides that she can get both culture and plenty of publicity by writing her autobiography. He hires a ghost writer to do all the work, but doesn't count on the possibility that Doll Face and her collaborator might have more than a book on their minds.
Out of work swing band maneuvers a gig working for a political campaign, by drawing in and entertaining prospective voters at rallies. The candidate is really a stooge for a corrupt political machine, which discovers the band's handsome and appealing singer would make a better stooge. Meanwhile, romance blossoms between the band's singers. When election day approaches, the band's singer wants out of the campaign, but the machine threatens to smear him and his pals in the band if he quits.
A film essay about Brazil discovered through Orson Welles' eyes during the shooting of It's All True.
The oddly-assorted Hart cousins: revue singer Blossom, con man Harry, and machinist Chiquita (who gets radio through her teeth!), inherit southern plantation Magnolia Manor, which alas proves to be a "termite trap" and tax liability. Fortunately, Sgt. Rocky Fulton from a nearby army camp appears with a plan to convert the place to a hotel for army wives; but to pay bills until then, they decide to put on a show. Of course, romantic and military complications intervene...
In 1922, a would-be classical composer gets involved with people putting on a musical revue.
Two authors go look for a business to finance their dream musical.
Between August 23 and 31, 1983, at the "Circo Massimo", in Rome, there was a musical event that brought together artists from Bahia. This film brings a recording of the event, also featuring backstage, rehearsals, testimonies and some relaxing moments of these great names in Bahia's music.
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
A biography of the Portuguese-born Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda, whose most distinctive feature was her tutti-frutti hat. From her arrival in the US as the "Brazilian Bombshell" to her Broadway career and Hollywood stardom in the 1940s.
Reenactments of actual USO experiences of its female stars entertaining troops overseas.
An irresistible journey through the universe of the singer and composer that revolutionized the song in Brazil and influenced generations of musicians, paving the way for movements such as Bossa Nova and Tropicália.
A man in charge of a publicity campaign for bananas decides to kidnap the Queen of 'Bananaland', a tropical island paradise, and take her to Rio, where she falls in love with a member of Carmen Miranda's backing ensemble, 'Bando da Lua'.
Short documentary about Carmen Miranda, with some of her songs, rare footage of the "lost" film "Banana-da-Terra" and scenes of her funeral, in 1955.
Profile of famed dance director Busby Berkeley's career, in particular "The Gang's All Here"
A man is looking for a radio singer named "Dulcineia." For this, he goes through the biggest hassles and problems. The plot, in fact, is an excuse for the exhibition of the musical numbers of the greatest Brazilian Radio artists.
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
Documentary on famous Brazilian actresses, female directors and the role of women in Brazilian film history.
Inspirational documentary short film featuring Hollywood stars promoting the sales of War Bonds through songs and skits. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
The Fania All Stars perform for 44,000 fans at Yankee stadium in New York. Besides concert footage, there's also included a history of Salsa, and vintage film clips of Hollywood's portrayal of Latinos in movies during the 1930's and 40's.
A look at Rio's cultural, political and technical revolutions since the 1970s to 2011
A prodigy of stringed instruments, a pioneer of Bossa Nova, a modernizing master of the guitar: Aníbal Augusto Sardinha, better known as Garoto (1915-1955), is one of the hidden pillars of Brazilian music. Woven by rare archival material, personal diaries and testimonies, this documentary reveals his influence and the artistic conflicts of an avant-garde artist in the golden age of Brazilian radio.
Dorival Caymmi was one of the inventors of the Bahian imagination. In his 94 years of life, Caymmi composed, sang, wrote, illustrated and thought about his Bahia, even far from it. His family, partners, friends and fans remember his history, which made him one of the pillars of Brazilian culture.
An aspiring singer is tasked with promoting the music catalogue of his great-grandfather, the famous songwriter Jimmy McHugh, recorded by everyone from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. While licensing these songs for movies, commercials, TV and Broadway shows, the singer journeys through the magic of his great-grandfather's stellar career.
The film reveals the creation of poet Dorival Caymmi's musical works with testimonies from researchers, journalists and friends who lived with him and were able to enjoy his wisdom and talent.
“Naked Eye” is a film-documentary of long-length of the artistic and existential universe of the singer Ney Matogrosso, which proposes to recreate through archive’s images in counterpoint with the current production of the artist, thirty-five years of career marked for inventive and transgressing spectacles, always symphonize with its time. Through a coherent boarding with its intransigent trajectory, the film intends to translate the language musical-corporal of Ney Matogrosso, trying audiovisuals resources that express signs evoked poetical politicians and in the repertoire of the singer. A film-song that that looks for to, ultimately, embody the voices of an artist who searches for a nation.
A celebration of Hollywood in the 1930s, featuring a compilation of clips from features and newsreels of the era.
Documentary about the presence of Latin American culture and actors in American movies.
The friendship between Jorge Amado, Dorival Caymmi, and Carybé, artists who were largely responsible for creating an image of the culture of Bahia that persists to this day, and who believed that the strength of their work lay in documenting what they saw on the streets.
Brazilian documentary film directed by Salvyano Cavalcanti de Paiva that showcases the evolution of Brazilian artists in the American film industry between the late 1920s and 1950s. Using archive footage, it highlights the contributions of figures like Carmen Miranda.
"Proust Palimpsesto: Pastiches e Misturas" (2026) is a Brazilian experimental documentary and film essay directed by Carlos Adriano. The film, which explores the impossibility of filming Marcel Proust's "In Search of Time That Flew", is presented as a collage of archival images and theories.
In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He went on to write "The Celluloid Closet", the first book to critique Hollywood's portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.