Futuros Presentes // Present Futures
DCI is the initiator of EUNIC São Paulo’s European online film cycle “FUTUROS PRESENTES – Cinemas Europeus”, carried out in a collaboration with SESC São Paulo and supported by the EU Delegation. With the film selection the curating group, coordinated by Tatiana Groff, articulates constructive approaches to contemporary future challenges. In addition to the program’s seven films – one from each country represented in EUNIC São Paulo and one Brazilian film – the project includes mediating videos with specialists, directors or producers, a comprehensive virtual catalog and podcasts. From March 3rd to March 30th, this will all be available free of charge at the Sesc Digital platform all over Brazil.
EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) is a network of European cultural institutes in the world, which aims to strengthen collaboration between European institutions and intensify cooperation and dialogue with local cultural realities in the countries in which it operates.
Besides DCI, six fellow EUNIC members participate in the project – Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Switzerland –The Eunic São Paulo cluster is comprised by the Alliance Française, British Council, Consulate General of France, Consulate General of Switzerland, Consulate of Belgium, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Instituto Cervantes, Danish Cultural Institute, Italian Institute of Culture and Goethe-Institut.
As a novelty in the 2022 edition, Brazil is represented by one film, selected by Sesc São Paulo: “King Car”, directed by Renata Pinheiro. In this science fiction, a man has a gift for communicating with cars. A new law that prohibits the circulation of old cars, puts his father’s taxi company at risk. He seeks guidance from his best friend: a car of unparalleled intelligence. The film, which had its Brazilian premiere at the Gramado Film Festival and has been selected for the Rotterdam Film Festival, raises current discussions such as the impact of technology and Fake News on people’s lives, disregard for the environment and the threat of fascist movements.
Danish documentary “From the Wild Sea” by Robin Petré, is one of the highlights of the film cycle. (Photo: Maria Grazia Goya)
“King Car” is only available for 24 hours and opens the Futuros Presentes: Cinemas Europeus film cycle on March 3rd along with the Danish documentary “From the Wild Sea”, by Danish director Robin Petré – a look at the destructive human action in the oceans that directly interferes the lives of wild animals – and the Belgian documentary “Shift (Turno)”, by Pauline Beugnies, – which exposes the difficult labor relationship between a bicycle delivery man and delivery app companies, in a conflict for rights and improvements in working conditions. In addition to the feature films, the United Kingdom presents a series of 7 short films that are part of the “The Uncertain Kingdom” project that question British culture, its subjects, how we got here and where we are going.
There will be three additional premieres on March 10th: The French feature “Red Soil”, by Farid Bentoumi, with the story of an occupational health nurse who tries to denounce the leakage of toxic waste from a chemical factory; the German documentary “Wood”, by Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Michaela Kirst and Ebba Sinzinger, which denounces the illegal timber trade in Europe and Asia; and “War and Peace”, by Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti, an Italian documentary that traces a relationship between cinema and war, presenting from sequences filmed by cinema pioneers, to videos shot on smartphones by citizens of the world, in the days of today.
The final premiere, scheduled for March 17th, is the Swiss documentary “Under the Skin”, by Robin Harsch, that follows the transition of three young people and the changes in their lives and their families, in a search for the identities hidden within them. The film is available until 23/3.
To watch the films, please visit www.sescsp.org.br/futuropresentes
The films are available only in Brazil.