Film festivals across Brazil spotlight new shorts and documentaries

The 9th Santa Cruz de Cinema Festival in Santa Cruz do Sul runs from June 16‑19, featuring 21 short films in competition, free public screenings, workshops, and a market programme. The jury includes Juliana Botelho, Renato Dornelles and Miriam de Souza Rossini, and actor‑director Reginaldo Faria receives a tribute for his seven‑decade career.

The 14th Festival de Cinema de Pinhais awarded its winners on June 9 and will present the prize‑winning films free to the public from June 24‑26. The competition covered 14 categories and showcased works from 17 Brazilian states and abroad, with the documentary *Armazém Santa Ana* highlighted among the winners. Funding for the festival came in part from the Aldir Blanc cultural policy.

The 15th Olhar de Cinema – Festival Internacional de Curitiba closed on June 13 with the Turkish film *Salvação* by Emin Alper, the recent Silver Bear winner at the Berlin Festival. The film examines social and political tensions in a remote Turkish village and will be distributed nationwide by Pandora Filmes, with a commercial release slated for July 2.