Many of us have grown up listening to the sounds of Brazilian music but there have been many artists through the years who have been forgotten. In Beyond Ipanema, director Guto Barra tries to give us a short history of Brazilian music, reminding us of the many great artists that were influential in bringing it to the rest of the world. The film takes us from 1939’s Carmen Miranda’s debut in Hollywood to those part of the Tropicália Revolution, to current times with artists making their own sounds using Brazilian influences.
I’ve always enjoyed documentaries about music not just for the historical perspectives but because we meet some of the great artists and learn more about the development of their respective careers. In this film, specifically, I liked hearing from artists like Caetano Galoso, Joao Gilberto, Os Mutantes, as well as M.I.A., Bebel Gilberto and Seu Jorge. Thanks to these first-person account,s we learn more about the music but also about their struggles and successes.
The film itself has more of an American perspective as Barra is a music journalist based in New York City. In a phone conversation with Barra, he mentioned he’d noticed no one had told this story in documentary form; hence, the idea for this film. He decided to focus on artists who had careers outside of Brazil; maybe living in the States or those living outside of Brazil and travelling a lot. Over time, Barra interviewed about fifty people but thirty or so of the interviews made it to the film. He explained that it was easy to get people involved in this project since they love the music so much. The only glitches were scheduling conflicts; overall, the film took about two years to make. This is surprising to me since there are about fifty songs showcased throughout the film and a fair bit of archival footage, which means copyrights had to be obtained to use these. Barra did say that obtaining copyrights permission took some time. We talked a little bit about how the music industry has changed a lot and continues to change. These days, one has to obtain the rights to use pretty much any piece of music out there.
The editing process took about a year; the challenge for Barra and crew here was to find a balance for those who know the music and those who do not. As he puts it, “the film is a door to a new universe.” The film premiered at the MOMA in New York for its annual Brazilian Film Series; from there, it has travelled to Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo. It has been in over twenty-five festivals and overall, it’s been well received. They’ve been sold out and have had great Q&A sessions, said Barra. Some of the artists have been able to attend some of the film screenings and had a good time as well. At this point, Barra and producer Beco Dranoff are still looking for distribution. Some television stations are interested but for now, they’re holding off to see if a DVD/CD combination can come to fruition. I said that’s a great idea as this film has a great soundtrack. You can learn more about the artists and hear some good tunes at Hot Docs on Saturday, May 8 at 9:15pm and Sunday, May 9 at 7pm. For tickets and more info, go here.
PÁRVULOS: CHILDREN OF THE APOCALYPSE