Zelito Viana
José Viana de Oliveira Paula (Fortaleza, May 5, 1938), better known as Zelito Viana, is a Brazilian filmmaker.
Works
Viva Marília!
The documentary explores the life and career of one of the greatest Brazilian actresses of all time, Marília Pêra, who passed away in 2015. Written by Nelson Motta and directed by Zelito Viana, the work is a 'docutainment,' much of it narrated in the first person, thanks to the numerous interviews she gave throughout her life, especially to TV Globo. It also features interviews, testimonials from colleagues, archival footage, and impressive musical numbers, as well as dramatic and comedic scenes from her iconic performances in theater, television, and cinema. The documentary is a profound tribute to a complete artist, who, by acting, dancing, singing, and directing, participated in 49 plays, 29 soap operas, 12 series, and 24 films, winning over 80 national and international awards.
Release Date:2025-12-05
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Armando Costa: “Televisão pra Mim Não é Bico”
Release Date:2024-10-03
Roberto Farias - Memórias de um Cineasta
Filmmaker Roberto Farias' passion for cinema is revealed by his daughter Marise Farias through an intimate look, from childhood to his political, economic and cultural role in Brazilian Cinema. Through Roberto Farias himself and friends such as Luís Carlos Barreto, Cacá Diegues and Zelito Viana, the film tells the stories of the director who achieved a direct dialogue with the public through successes such as O Assalto ao Trem Pagador (1962), the trilogy with singer Roberto Carlos (1968 to 1971) and Pra Frente Brasil (1982). Texts from an unpublished book of memories are interpreted by his brother, actor Reginaldo Faria.
Release Date:2023-08-18
Character:Self
Vote Count:1
Da Terra dos Índios aos Índios Sem Terra
Documentary about the historic interview conducted by director Zelito Viana with Darcy Ribeiro about the Brazilian indigenous people in 1977. Actor Marcos Palmeira reproduces the anthropologist's lines.
Release Date:2022-10-31
Department:Directing
Job:Director
A Arte existe porque a vida não basta
Release Date:2016-08-25
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Cinema Novo
A deep investigation, in the way of a poetic essay, on one of the main Latin American movements in cinema, analyzed via the thoughts of its main authors, who invented, in the early 1960s, a new way of making movies in Brazil, with a political attitude, always near to people's problems, that combined art and revolution.
Release Date:2016-05-16
Character:Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Vote Count:22
Cacaso
Cacaso, a Brazilian poet, lived in Rio de Janeiro. Born Antonio Carlos de Brito (1944-1987) he was one of the leaders of the marginal poetry movement. Cacaso filled notebooks not only with poems but reflections, drawings and collages. He also became a lyricist and partner of celebrated songwriters such as Tom Jobim, Edu Lobo, Toninho Horta, João Donato and Sivuca.
Release Date:2016-04-10
Character:Self
Vote Count:1
Dossiê Jango
João Goulart (known as Jango) had been democratically elected president of Brazil, but was expelled from office after the coup of April 1, 1964. After that, Jango lived in exile in Argentina, where he died in 1976. The circumstances of his death in the neighboring country were not well explained today. His body was buried immediately after his death, raising the suspicions of premeditated murder. This documentary brings the issue back to the fore and tries to publicly clarify some obscure facts of the history of Brazil.
Release Date:2013-07-05
Character:Self
Vote Count:3
Drumming Beat of the Stars
An essay around the streets, as an homage to Fernando Pessoa
Release Date:2012-11-14
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Vote Count:1
Sons da Esperança
The documentary tells the story of the "Orquestra Criança Cidadã do Coque" [Child Citizen Orchestra of Coque]. This is the realization of a social project, conceived by Judge John Targino, in which the children of one of the most violent neighborhoods of Recife - the "Coque" - receive music and instruments lessons, forming a classical music orchestra. The first part of the documentary features interviews with many parents, talking about their experiences and how the project has changed their lives, not only of their children, but their own. Then, in the second part, we have interviews with the students themselves and watch part of the preparations for the concert commemorating the anniversary of the orchestra - and, of course, all anxiety and expectation that this moment brings to their lives. Finally, in the third part, the concert is shown almost entirety. The kids brilliantly perform orchestral pieces of J. S. Bach, E. Elgar and H. Villa-Lobos.
Release Date:2012-05-02
Department:Editing
Job:Editor
Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed
The movie "Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed" shows the path of the dramaturgo Augusto Boal at the creation of a theatre that has as objective to transform those who participate it in a spiral of changes, in an oppressing society. Along the trajectory we see Boal's intellectual search and the transformations of the Brazilian society, from the 60s to nowadays. The spectator will meet the numerous uses of the Theatre of the Oppressed around the world (there are groups in 77 countries) and how they manifest in different situations, characterized by the relation between the oppressor and the oppressed, from the biggest to the smallest powers.
Release Date:2010-03-04
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:1
Bela Noite Para Voar
A day in the life of Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek, in a troubled period of his term, while he maintains a secret love affair.
Release Date:2009-03-13
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:5
Milagrez
Documentary on "Antonio das Mortes", Glauber Rocha's 1969 film.
Release Date:2008-01-02
Character:Self
Chico Anysio É
Release Date:2006-01-01
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Character:
Depois do Transe
The documentary "Depois do Transe" covers the entire process of creating the masterpiece "Entranced Earth", which was released and awarded at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967. "Entranced Earth" charmed the world and won great admirers such as filmmaker Martin Scorsese and the writer Marguerite Duras, who at the time considered a "fabulous filmic opera."
Release Date:2006-01-01
Character:Self
Vote Count:1
Aparecida Azedo: Uma Vida em 24 Quadros
Release Date:2005-01-01
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
Documentary about Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha, one of the most important names in the Cinema Novo, with interviews with some of his friends and colleagues.
Release Date:2003-09-17
Character:Self / Interviewee
Vote Count:8
Villa-Lobos: A Life of Passion
The film tells the story of an intuitive, adventurous man who loved his country and being Brazilian. This man fought to be loyal to himself. His music is a transparent portrait of his genius, intuition, freedom, adventure and passion for Brazil.
Release Date:2000-04-21
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:11
Dib
Documentary that addresses, through the testimony of directors and actors, the work of Dib Lutfi, considered one of the greatest photographers of Brazilian cinema.
Release Date:1997-01-02
Character:Self
Imagens da História
Release Date:1995-12-20
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Episode Count:20
Rio's Love Song
Four love stories which portray a wide gamut of emotions and desires against the backdrop of Rio de Janeiro. "Elephant's Stomp" : the story of a highway patrol officer who is infatuated with a mulatto dancer at a local nightclub. "Drao" : a publicity man and a boutique owner who face a crises in their marriage. "You Are Beautiful" : two homeless teenagers seek love amidst their personal misery. "Samba of the Great Passion" : a book maker who is charmed and captivated by the voice of a female singer coming from a building across the street. Characters in search of love in order to escape from the boredom, loneliness and helplessness of their lives.
Release Date:1994-09-15
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Vote Count:6
Que Filme 'Tu Vai' Fazer?
Release Date:1991-07-11
Avaete, Seed of Revenge
Little Indian boy survives his tribe massacre, growing up together with his wish for revenge and his quest for his own identity. Based on a true story.
Release Date:1985-08-26
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:7
Twenty Years Later
Eduardo Coutinho was filming a movie with the same name in the Northeast of Brazil, in 1964, when there came the military coup. He had to interrupt the project, and came back to it in 1981, looking for the same places and people, showing what had ocurred since then, and trying to gather a family whose patriarch, a political leader fighting for rights of country people, had been murdered.
Release Date:1984-12-03
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Vote Count:66
The Secret of the Mummy
A mad scientist attempts to bring an ancient Egyptian mummy back to life.
Release Date:1982-09-06
Department:Production
Job:Executive Producer
Vote Count:14
Chico Anysio Show
Release Date:1982-03-04
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Episode Count:1
Chico Anísio Ao Vivo no Carnegie Hall
Release Date:1981-11-03
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Terra dos Índios
Release Date:1979-05-26
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Por Trás das Câmeras (II)
Release Date:1978-01-01
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Morte e Vida Severina
The story of Severino, a man who tries to escape the misery and the drought prevailing in the rural backcountry of the Northeast of Brazil. He heads for Recife, passing through desert and forest regions, expecting to find a better life.
Release Date:1977-07-29
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:4
Choque Cultural
Release Date:1977-07-07
Department:Writing
Job:Writer
Vote Count:1
A Lost Woman
The story of a poor woman living in the backwoods of Brazil and working as a maid. One day she is unfairly fired from the house where she was working and goes to the big city, facing a cruel and hostile world, working in factories, bars and bordellos.
Release Date:1976-03-19
Department:Production
Job:Executive Producer
Vote Count:5
Zabumba, Orquestra Popular do Nordeste
Popular manifestation in extinction, presented with its local musicians and their handmade instruments.
Release Date:1974-10-04
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Os Condenados
In São Paulo, during the 1920s, a woman who is loved by a telegraphist and seduced by a slacker ends up in prostitution.
Release Date:1974-08-26
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:1
Rodovia Belém - Brasília
Documents the arrival of progress with the construction of the Belém-Brasília highway, to improve the living conditions of the people in the cities in the interior of the country. It also presents interviews with people from the region, who express their opinion about the benefits brought by the highway.
Release Date:1973-01-01
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:1
When Carnaval Comes
Music manager has to get three of his artists together for a special show, but soon finds out it isn't an easy task.
Release Date:1972-07-13
Department:Production
Job:Executive Producer
Vote Count:7
O Doce Esporte do Sexo
Erotic comedy in five segments, starring the same actor, Chico Anysio: O Torneio (The Tournament), A Boca (The Mouth), O Filminho (The Short Film), A Suspeita (The Suspicion) and O Apartamento (The Apartment).
Release Date:1971-01-01
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:1
Minha Namorada
Middle-class teenage girl has a serious boyfriend that her parents approve of. Suddenly, she meets another boy with whom she is shown to have a greater identification.
Release Date:1970-01-01
Department:Directing
Job:Director
Vote Count:4
Antonio das Mortes
A new incarnation of Cangaceiro bandits, led by Coirana, has risen in the badlands. A blind landowner hires Antônio to wipe out his old nemesis. Yet after besting Coirana and accompanying the dying man to his mountain hideout, Antônio is moved by the plight of the Cangaceiro’s followers. The troubled hitman turns revolutionary, his gun and machete aimed towards his former masters.
Release Date:1969-06-14
Department:Production
Job:Executive Producer
Vote Count:87
The Man Who Bought the World
In a fictitious country, a civil servant receives the greatest inheritance in history (ten trillion dollars) and is confined by authorities to prevent a collapse of the world economy. But he manages to escape.
Release Date:1968-09-16
Department:Writing
Job:Writer
Vote Count:4
Fantasia para Ator e TV
Release Date:1968-01-01
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Entranced Earth
Eldorado, a fictitious country in America, is sparkling with the internal struggle for political power. In the eye of this social convulsion, the jaded journalist Paulo Martins opposes two equally corrupt political candidates: a pseudopopulist and a conservative. In this context, Paulo is torn between the madness of the elite and the blind submission of the masses. But, in this complex tropical reality, nothing really is what it seems to be.
Release Date:1967-05-02
Department:Production
Job:Executive Producer
Vote Count:117
Improvised and Purposeful: Cinema Novo
Originally produced for German TV, Improvised and Purposeful is a firsthand look at the "Cinema Novo" movement (otherwise known as the 'Brazilian New Wave'). Director Joaquim Pedro de Andrade focuses on six Cinema Novo filmmakers working in Rio in 1967.
Release Date:1967-01-01
Character:Self
Vote Count:10
The Big City
In search of a better life, Luzia leaves the Northeast of Brazil and goes to Rio de Janeiro, looking for her fiance who went first to pave their way. Alone in the Marvelous City, she is forced to accept the friendship and protection of Calunga and, later, the company of Inácio.
Release Date:1966-05-13
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Vote Count:5
Maranhão 66
A report on Sarney's inauguration as the governor of the Maranhão state. His promises are heard alongside images of the grim reality.
Release Date:1966-01-01
Department:Production
Job:Producer
Vote Count:13