Stories of Samba (2024)

Mary

A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.

Estômago: A Gastronomic Story

In a dog-eat-dog world, Raimundo Nonato has found an alternative way to move ahead: he cooks. No matter what social strata this deceptively innocent young man inhabits, he hones his skills and sharpens his knives—and then he falls in love. Jorge's nimble comic fable provides a smartly constructed gastronomic allegory for ambition and survival.

Meu Sangue Ferve por Você

In 1979, Brazilian singer Sidney Magal is at the peak of his career. On a TV show, he meets Magali and, enchanted by the young woman, decides to win her over. But, in order to do that, he will have to overcome the resistance of his manager, Jean Pierre, and the distrust of her family, friends and even Magali herself.

Doppelgänger

Silvia is a young teacher at an elementary school. One day, her class is interrupted when the students notice her double walking on the other side of the street. Silvia tries to ignore the apparition, but this strange event begins to permeate her daily life and transform her pesonality.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, Halloween night, 1968. After playing a joke on a school bully, Stella and her friends decide to sneak into a supposedly haunted house that once belonged to the powerful Bellows family, unleashing dark forces that they will be unable to control.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

Godzilla Minus One

In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.

Avatar: The Way of Water

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Dune: Part Two

Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

The Silent Hour

While working a case as an interpreter, a hearing-impaired police detective must confront a group of criminals trying to eliminate a deaf murder witness in her apartment building.

Wicked

In the land of Oz, ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda at Shiz University, and the two's unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Deadpool & Wolverine

A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life with his days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctant Wolverine.

Sing Sing

Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

House of Ga'a

At the height of the Oyo Empire, the ferocious Bashorun Ga'a became more powerful than the kings he enthroned, only to be undone by his own blood.

The Twin

Every parent's worst nightmare is just the beginning for Rachel's ordeal as in the aftermath of a tragic accident, she and her husband Anthony decide to move to the other side of the world to focus on their surviving twin son Elliot. What begins as a time of healing and isolation in the Finnish countryside turns into a desperate battle for the very soul of their son as an entity claiming to be his dead twin brother takes over Elliot — setting Rachel on a diabolical journey to unravel the horrible truth about her twin son.

Arcadian

In the near future, on a decimated Earth, Paul and his twin sons face terror at night when ferocious creatures awaken. When Paul is nearly killed, the boys come up with a plan for survival, using everything their father taught them to keep him alive.

The First Omen

When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.

Barbie

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

Swallow

Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession.

Triangle of Sadness

A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.

Heretic

Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed, becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

Mickey 17

Unlikely hero Mickey Barnes finds himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.

The Menu

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In

In 1980s Hong Kong, troubled youth Chan Lok-kwun, a mainland refugee, struggles to survive in the Kowloon Walled City by joining underground fights. Betrayed by crime boss Mr. Big while trying to buy a fake ID, he steals drugs from him and seeks refuge in the Walled City, where he encounters Cyclone, a compassionate yet authoritative crime lord.

Civil War

In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.

Blink Twice

When tech billionaire Slater King meets cocktail waitress Frida at his fundraising gala, he invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. But despite the epic setting, beautiful people, ever-flowing champagne, and late-night dance parties, Frida can sense that there’s something sinister hiding beneath the island’s lush façade.

The Substance

A fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

Licorice Pizza

The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.

Kraven the Hunter

Kraven Kravinoff's complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she's too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha's life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she meets Paul, a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest to fulfill Paul's last wishes before day breaks.

The Family Plan

Dan Morgan is many things: a devoted husband, a loving father, a celebrated car salesman. He's also a former assassin. And when his past catches up to his present, he's forced to take his unsuspecting family on a road trip unlike any other.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most.

The Killer

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

A Million Miles Away

The life of engineer and former NASA astronaut José M. Hernández, the first migrant farmworker to go to space.

Wicked Little Letters

When the denizens of Littlehampton – including conservative Edith – begin receiving letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting something amiss, the town's women band together to investigate.

American Fiction

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

Challengers

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Major champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

A Real Pain

Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.

Oppenheimer

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

After Hours

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

Linha de Passe

In the periphery of São Paulo, the pregnant single mother Cleuza works as maid in the apartment of a middle-class family. Each of her sons has a different unknown father: the oldest, Dênis, has a baby son that lives with his mother and he works as motorcycle courier.

The Accused

Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.

7 Prisoners

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.

Zodiac

The Zodiac murders cause the lives of Paul Avery, David Toschi and Robert Graysmith to intersect.

Carandiru

When a doctor decides to carry out an AIDS prevention program inside Latin America’s largest prison: the Casa de Detenção de São Paulo - Carandiru, he meets the future victims of one of the darkest days in Brazilian History when the State of São Paulo’s Military Police, with the excuse for law enforcement, shot to death 111 people. Based on real facts and on the book written by Dráuzio Varella.

Bliss

A mind-bending love story following Greg who, after recently being divorced and then fired, meets the mysterious Isabel, a woman living on the streets and convinced that the polluted, broken world around them is just a computer simulation. Doubtful at first, Greg eventually discovers there may be some truth to Isabel’s wild conspiracy.

Ghost Town

Bertram Pincus, a cranky, people-hating Manhattan dentist, develops the unwelcome ability to see dead people. Really annoying dead people. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy, a smooth-talking ghost, who pesters him into a romantic scheme involving his widow Gwen. They are soon entangled in a hilarious predicament between the now and the hereafter!

The Groomsmen

Blue-collar Paulie prepares for fatherhood and his forthcoming wedding to Sue by hanging out with his groomsmen. Brother Jimbo, cousin Mike, and his pals fill the reunion with drinking, boys-will-be-boys antics and a few unexpected personal confessions. But, when the bonding devolves into accusations and regret, Paulie has to decide whether he's ready to tie the knot and take this big step into adulthood.

Striptease

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.

Have I Got a Christmas for You

Members of a town's Jewish community decide to substitute for their Christian friends and neighbors so they can enjoy Christmas. The good folk humorously attempt jobs they have never done before.

Clean, Shaven

Peter Winter is a young schizophrenic who is desperately trying to get his daughter back from her adoptive family. He attempts to function in a world that, for him, is filled with strange voices, electrical noise, disconcerting images, and jarringly sudden emotional shifts. During his quest, he runs afoul of the law and an ongoing murder investigation.

Red White & Blue

A woman attracts the attention of a psychotic former Army interrogator and an emotionally fragile young man caring for his ailing mother.

Confessions of a Brazilian Call Girl

Rachel is a girl, adopted by an upper middle class family, who rebelled at 17 and left her family and studies at a traditional college in Sao Paulo to become a sexy call girl. Shortly after starting work, she decided to write a blog about her experiences. Since some clients thought she looked like a surfer she adopted the name "Surfistinha" which means little surfer girl.

Black Orpheus

Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

I'm Still Here

In 1971, military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva family — Rubens, Eunice, and their five children — live in a beachside house in Rio, open to all their friends. One day, Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.

Nina

After losing her job, an unstable woman sinks further and further into a violent fantasy world.

Time of Fear

Year 2006. There are riots in São Paulo. In the middle of the violent situation, widow Lucia is trying to get her young son Rafael from prison.

Next Door

Berlin, the Prenzlauer Berg district. Daniel is a movie star accustomed to success. His loft apartment is stylish and so is his wife, and the nanny has the children under control. Everything is tip-top, bilingual and ready for him to jet off to an audition in London where a role in an American superhero film awaits the celebrated German-Spanish actor. Popping into the local bar on the corner, he finds Bruno sitting there. As transpires by the minute, Bruno has been waiting for this moment for a long time. And so this eternally overlooked man – one of reunification's losers and a victim of the gentrification of what was once East Berlin – takes his revenge. With Daniel as his target...

Katie Fforde: Wie Feuer und Wasser

Plot unavailable

Queer

1950. William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.

I Saw the TV Glow

Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate Maddy introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.

Air Bridge

Bruno and Amanda have to face the difficulties of a long distance relationship after meeting in a flight forced into an emergency landing.

1961

In 1961, father and son travel to Porto Alegre. Their severance leads both to unknown realities.

Isn't She Lovely

Class Project Blind Date

OG: The Harry Jumonji Story

'OG' is a film about a legendary, Brazilian born, NYC skateboarder, Harry Jumonji. In the course of telling his story, through his triumphs and travails, Jumonji emerges in this portrait as an adolescent innocent, much like skateboarding itself. He is irrepressible, manically energetic and ultimately, pure. He has a transcendent presence, well beyond charm or charisma, of such unalloyed joy that nothing he does is unforgiveable. This is fortunate because, as a drug addict, unsurprisingly, he lies, cheats and steals. Harry is rendered as the poet, the sprite, the artist and the street saint he is.

Neo New Jersey

A night in the life of two blacklight gossip queens in the year 2999.

Shinjuku Midare Machi: Ikumade Matte

The story of a group of artistic people centred around a bar in Shinjuku.

The Florentine

A slice-of-life story unfolds inside The Florentine, a bar in a Pennsylvania steel town whose brightest days are behind it, leaving behind many of life's disillusioned "losers." Its owner, Whitey, is deep in debt to the town's loan shark, Joe McCollough, and desperate for a path forward which won't cost him the bar. His sister, Molly, is days away from her long-awaited nuptials, and then her former fiancé, Teddy, shows up in town for the first time since leaving her at the altar years before. Ne'er-do-well Billy Belasco runs a con on Frankie to steal the money for the wedding caterer, while long-time regular Bobby becomes a patron-cum-inhabitant as he hides from his fast-crumbling marriage to Vikki. Every plot in this multi-layered story seems to be at its nadir just as a pair of unlikely heroes emerge out of the backdrop to turn everything around.

The Tender Bar

JR is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie, is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father — JR begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams, with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.

Sweet Virginia

A former rodeo star, now a motel manager, meets a young man who is responsible for the violence that suddenly has seized his small town.

The Wrung-Out Man

Deraldo, a popular poet from Northeast Brazil, arrives in the capital of São Paulo, making a living only from his poetry and pamphlets. All is well until he is mistaken for a multinational worker who killed the boss at a party where he received the title of symbolic worker.

The Way He Looks

Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.

Cheap Thrills

Recently fired and facing eviction, a new dad has his life turned upside down when he meets a wealthy couple who offer a path to financial security... but at a price.

Mussum, o Filmis

The trajectory of Antônio Carlos Bernardes Gomes, known as Mussum, from Trapalhões. His poor childhood, his military career, his relationship with Mangueira and his success with the group Originais do Samba, as well as behind the scenes as a member of Trapalhões.

The Naked Sun

An Italian businessman travels to Brazil looking for a new job. When things don't go his way, he becomes despondent until he meets a beautiful woman who reveals Rio de Janeiro's most magical, secret locales.

APOTHEOSIS 85

In 1985, a spy risks everything to stop a conspiracy that threatens to prolong the dictatorship in Brazil. While facing the military, she becomes involved in a forbidden romance with the heiress of a megacorp.

Deeper

Dealing with anxiety and phobias, Dafni struggles to finish a drawing. As she navigates her relationship with her mother, friends, as well as a dog that she’s been asked to pet sit, her old best friend suddenly reappears after many years and wants to meet up.

Taciturno

Plot unavailable

Letícia

During a work meeting at a hotel, Gustavo, a real player, meets the charming Letícia, who has an intriguing personality. Marked by the encounter, he sees his life change abruptly, making him question his own nature.

Talvez o Vento Saiba seu Nome

Plot unavailable

Attached

While on a date, Sarah has a fight with her boyfriend which ultimately ends in a break-up. Driven emotional, Sarah decides to try her luck with another guy at the bar unaware that there is something bit more sinister behind his attention.

Lightrapping

Gustave is a photographer who makes pictures of nude male bodies in public spaces in São Paulo. One night, Pedro goes with him, without yet knowing whether he will be part of the project. This vast city will be witness.

MAD

After running around the city all day, Mandy finally realizes something a little too late.

The Simplest Thing in the World

The short film deals with the character of Henry Dorn, who tries to write a script for a commercial movie after a major failure, the character will have to deal with his demons and his constant indecision in trying to find an approach that is pleasing to his eyes. Based on the tale "The Simplest Thing in the World" by Ayn Rand (available in The Romantic Manifesto)

GAP

A resident of a ghetto’s neighborhood of São Paulo amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Gustavo has severe anxiety attacks. When he receives a call from a friend who lives in the same street, he reflects different stories of neighborhood residents in parallel with his family's daily life during social isolation.

They Don't Come in Peace

As two brothers watch a news cast about extra terrestrial beings, the older brother uses the opportunity to make an analogy about their world being invaded by unwelcome visitors.

Walzer Allein

Plot unavailable

Kowloon Castaway

A lonely detectorist’s search for love brings him to a tiki bar. Set partly in the iconic Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus, Massachusetts, Kowloon Castaway is a fun look at love in the modern world.

Scarlet Mind

An introverted private investigator is hired to work on an unusual case that involves him with a mysterious woman in a scarlet dress. As the night unfolds, the detective has to decide whether it is love he is seeking or the truth.

A Jornada do Valente

A pictorial portrait of the legendary sambista, Assis Valente. The film traces his biography in a sensorial way, capturing a world divided between joy and despair.

Brasil, Vermelho-Amarelo

Plot unavailable