Announcing the Fifth Luso World Cinema blogathon

 

Hello again from sunny Brazil! This year has already brought something brand new: an Oscar for a Lusophone country with the victory of “I’m Still Here” in the Best International Film category. It was the fifth time Brazil was up for this award – it’s a shame that Portugal and other Lusophone countries were never even nominated. Because of this historical win, we - that is, me and Beth from Spellbound with Beth Ann - decided to make a change in the Luso blogathon this year: instead of hosting on the usual date, May 5^th, we decided to start the event on June 19^th, when we celebrate Brazilian Cinema Day. The event will continue until June 22^nd – plenty of time to contribute with a text and/or read the entries.

The rules are simple:

The Luso World Cinema Blogathon once again accepts posts about films made in Lusophone countries, that is, countries that speak Portuguese – see the list below –, and film stars with Luso heritage, that means, film stars of Portuguese descent. This list includes natives like Carmen Miranda, Rodrigo Santoro, Sônia Braga, Raul Roulien, Maria de Medeiros and also Keanu Reeves, Mary Astor, Louise Fazenda, Tom Hanks, Joe DeRita, James Franco, Daniel Brühl, Auli'i Cravalho (the voice of Disney's Moana!), Nestor Paiva, Amy Poehler,  Dorothy DeBorba and many more you can find listed HERE. You can write an overview of those people's lives or careers or focus on a specific film or TV show they made. We also accept the quite rare portraits of Portuguese, Brazilian or other Luso people in film, like in 1937’s “Captain Courageous”, in which Spencer Tracy plays a Portuguese sailor, for instance.

Now a little intermission to know more about us, your hostesses:

Here are a few lists of movies from Lusophone countries:

List of films from Portugal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Portuguese_films

List of films from Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Brazilian_films

List of films from Cape Verde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cape_Verdean_films

List of films from Mozambique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mozambican_films

List of films from Angola: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Angolan_films

List of films from Guinea-Bissau:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bissau-Guinean_films

List of films from São Tomé and Príncipe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe

List of films from Equatorial Guinea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Equatoguinean_films

List of films from East Timor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:East_Timorese_films

We have banners for you to spread the news about the blogathon:

Mary Astor

Ilhéu de Contenda / The Island of Contenda (1996)

A Trança Feiticeira / The Bewitching Braid (1996)

Trikal (1985)

Air Conditioner (2020)

Rio, Zona Norte / Rio, Northern Zone (1957)

Mulheres de Beira / Border Women (1923)

Mark Ruffalo

Carmen Miranda

Tom Hanks

Maria de Medeiros

Jasmine Guy

Yvonne Furneaux in Lisbon (1956)

Lena Horne

Who's doing what:

Crítica Retrô: Silvino Santos, a filmmaker from the jungle

Spellbound with Beth Ann: That time when TCM called Carmen Miranda a Latin AND Hispanic icon

Realweegiemidget Reviews: That Man from Rio (1964)

Cinematic Catharsis: Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)

Hollywood Kitchen: Louise Fazenda's Cookie Recipe

Speakeasy: Zé do Caixão a.k.a Coffin Joe

Classic Film and TV Corner: The Miranda Sisters

Taking Up Room: Mary Astor in "Dodsworth" (1936)

Moon in Gemini: Keanu Reeves in "Tune In Tomorrow" (1990)

A Shroud of Thoughts: Nestor Paiva

The Midnite Drive-In: The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954, set somewhere in Brazil) 

18 Cinema Lane - Jasmine Guy's episodes of  "Touched by an Angel"

Silver Screenings - Storm Over Lisbon (1944)

The Fourth Luso World Cinema blogathon is here!

 The big day has arrived! The Fourth Luso World Cinema blogathon starts today and it's an honor, as always, to host this event and put Luso cinema in the spotlight. Without further ado, let's go to the entries! 

Maddy from Classic Film and TV Corner kicks things off with a review of "Went the Day Well?" (1942), directed by the Brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti. 

Next we have Gill from Realweegiemidget Reviews with a film that is truly a family affair: "That Thing You Do!" (1996), directed by Tom Hanks, who is half Portuguese from both his mother's and father's side.

Then there is me here at Crítica Retrô taking a look at the film that inaugurated the Golden Age of Portuguese cinema, "A Canção de Lisboa / A Song of Lisbon" (1933).

Ruth from Silver Screenings reviews the musical comedy "Copacabana" (1947), in which Groucho Marx is overshadowed by Carmen Miranda.

Portuguese-American brothers James Franco and Dave Franco are on the spotlight at Taking Up Room, where Rebecca reviews "The Disaster Artist" (2018).

The Lousie Brooks Society blog brings its first contribution in the form of an article that rescues mentions of Louise Brooks in Portuguese-language newspapers.
 

Mary Astor had Portuguese heritage from her mother's side - as seen in her real maternal last name, Vasconcellos. Kayla from Whimsically Classic lists her five favorite Mary Astor performances.

Debbie from Moon in Gemini brought something different: a post about a telenovela! She watched and reviews the iconic telenovela from Brazil "Xica da Silva", broadcast in 1997.

 Thomas from Louise Brooks Society blog is back with the time Brooks' film "Pandora's Box" (1929) was featured in O Fan, a newsletter from a film club created by future Brazilian director Mario Peixoto.

My co-host Beth from Spellbound with Beth Ann interviewed Portuguese-American filmmaker Alyssa Botelho.

Samantha from Musings of a Classic Film Addict brought something diferent: the recipe of Carmen Miranda's feijoada!

Virginie from The Wonderful World of Cinema reviews Ray Milland's "Lisbon" (1956), the first Hollywood movie shot entirely in Portugal.

And Thomas from Louise Brooks Society Blog is back again with the coverage of her films in Brazilian newspapers and magazines.

Last but not least we have Toni from Watching Forever, who writes an overview of Nestor Paiva, the son of two Portuguese immigrants, in his more than 400 credits

The Third Luso World Cinema Blogathon is here!

 It's May 5th! This means that today is World Portuguese Language Day... and also the first day of the Third Luso World Cinema blogathon! Beth Ann and I, your hostesses, couldn't be more thrilled to share the love of all things Luso in film!

Now, the entries!

I kick things off with the two Carmens of Brazilian cinema: Carmen Santos and Carmen Miranda.

Gill from Realweegiemidgtet Reviews showcases Daniel Brühl in "Good Bye Lenin!" (2003)

Ruth from Silver Screenings brings the Mozambican documentary “Kuxa Kanema - The Birth of Cinema” (2002).

Rebecca from Taking Up Room shines a light on Carmen Miranda in “A Date with Judy” (1948).

Next up is Raquel from Out of the Past with a review of Sarah Maldoror's Sambizanga (1972), the first fiction feature made by a Portuguese-speaking country in Africa.

Co-hostess Beth from Spellbound with Beth Ann analyzes three classic films with Portuguese characters.

Announcing the Third Luso World Cinema Blogathon

 

O Cangaceiro / The Bandit (Lima Barreto, 1953)

Did you miss us? Well, I didn’t go anywhere and I’m still blogging often, but I certainly missed the one and only blogathon dedicated to Portuguese-speaking cinema and performers from Lusophone countries and Luso blood. The good news is: we’re back! Yes, Beth from Spellbound with Betth Ann and I are back for the third edition of the successful Luso World Cinema Blogathon. This edition is extra-special for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is that we scheduled the blogathon to start on May 5^th, that is World Portuguese Language Day, a date established by UNESCO to celebrate the first meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries that happened on May 5^th, 2005.

The second reason is that now I’m a Portuguese citizen, besides being a Brazilian citizen. Double citizenship is allowed here and I started the process in 2019, concluding it early this year. I now feel proud of my second homeland, and closer to my roots - my great-grandfather was born in Portugal.

The Portuguese flag and me

Now, let’s talk more about the blogathon rules:  

The Luso World Cinema Blogathon once again accepts posts about films made in Lusophone countries, that is, countries that speak Portuguese – see the list below –, and film stars with Luso heritage, that means, film stars of Portuguese descent. This list includes natives like Carmen Miranda, Rodrigo Santoro, Sônia Braga, Raul Roulien, Maria de Medeiros and also Keanu Reeves, Mary Astor, Louise Fazenda, Tom Hanks, Joe DeRita, James Franco, Daniel Brühl, Auli'i Cravalho (the voice of Disney's Moana!), Nestor Paiva, Amy Poehler,  Dorothy DeBorba and many more you can find listed HERE. You can write an overview of those people's lives or careers or focus on a specific film or TV show they made.

Here are a few lists of movies from Lusophone countries:

List of films from Portugal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Portuguese_films

List of films from Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Brazilian_films

List of films from Cape Verde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cape_Verdean_films

List of films from Mozambique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mozambican_films

List of films from Angola: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Angolan_films

List of films from Guinea-Bissau:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bissau-Guinean_films

List of films from São Tomé and Príncipe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe

List of films from Equatorial Guinea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Equatoguinean_films

List of films from East Timor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:East_Timorese_films

 

The list of contributions so far:

 

Crítica Retrô - A tale of two Carmens: Carmen Santos and Carmen Miranda

Realweegiemidget Reviews - Daniel Brühl in “Good Bye, Lenin!” (2003)

Dubsism - Tom Hanks in “A League of their Own” (1992)

Taking Up Room - Carmen Miranda in “A Date with Judy” (1948)

Silver Screenings - Mozambique’s Kuxa Kanema - O Nascimento do Cinema (2003)

And now, the banners, beautifully made by Beth:

Os Mutantes / The Mutants (Teresa Villaverde, 1998)

Os Verdes Anos / The Green Years (Paulo Rocha, 1963)

Lisbon Story (Wim Wenders, 1994)

Amália (Carlos Coelho da Silva, 2008)

Tiger Shark (Howard Hawks, 1932)

Mystic Pizza (Donald Petrie, 1988)

Gaijin (Tizuka Yamasaki, 1980) 

Ganga Bruta (Humberto Mauro, 1933)

Macunaíma (Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, 1969)

Vitalina Varela (Pedro Costa, 2019)

That Night in Rio (Irving Cummings, 1941)