The release of Persona Films web site opens an opportunity to widen our structure for online distribution of our products and also for other services. The development of online distribution is one of the countless possibilities open by contemporary technologies – a virtual space that Persona starts to occupy. The accomplishment of institutional films is a new facet of its activities.
On its first life-cycle, Persona Films has is path marked by the motion picture “Rose Wine” (Rose Wine), that sets the debut of director Elza Cataldo. The identity of Persona with the historic genre becomes clear by the aptitude for research and documentation, which precede the movie making. The challenge to weave the dialogue between History and fiction has been responded with sensibility and rare artistic diligence, as states the receptivity of our productions.
About “Rose Wine”, the whole picture goes through the XVIII century at Minas Gerais, telling the story of Joaquina, daughter of Tiradentes, it also tells the story of other women caught by the violence against the insurgency of the Mineiros. The resonance of this award winning motion picture was intensified in Minas Gerais because of the it’s focus on the regional history, also for the cinematographic experience, which was the first for most cast, and crew.
New Steps
The trail opened for the rigid film production industry only viable through the dedication of its participants allowed new significant steps. The accomplishment of the short film “O Crime da Atriz” (The Actress’s Crime) shows a skillful adaptation of Russian author Arkadi Avertchenkko’s short story. The comedy brings to scene the universe of a Brazilian theater company in the late XIX century, moving the action to theater stage of Sabará, a little jewelry of baroque architecture.
The interest for Brazilian history and its characters lost in the fragile memory of the Country leaded us to another unique project: the short film “As Orfãs da Rainha” (The Queen’s Orphans), which in searching for resources. This project is a clear example of the path chosen by Persona Films to leave its mark on the Brazilian film industry. The focus, this time, will be the fearsome Inquisition and its first incursions to the former Portuguese colony in the late XVI century.
Again, a thorough research process about the theme leads to the accomplishment of two preceding documentaries: “A Santa Visitação” (The Saint Visitation) and “Ouro Branco” (White Gold). The first, we present a deposition reenactment of nine wives of inquisitors, in between there are interventions of the historian Ronaldo Vainfas and writer Eduardo Bueno. The second, the target is the emergence of the first Northeastern sugar mills.
Origin and landmark
The formation of director Elza Cataldo, which brings life to Persona Films, is the origin to the whole path. The landmark is the PhD in Educational Politics in Sorbonne, in Paris, where she also studied Cinematography with the staff of Jean Rouch. Back to Brazil, as a professor at Minas Gerais Federal University, she bonded Education and Cinema. As a founder of one of the main movie theatre of Belo Horizonte which was key to build other bridges with the educational area.
With the creation of Persona Films, in 1998, the contribution of Elza Cataldo was key to the accomplishment of audiovisual products with high quality esthetic features; all chosen according to Cataldo’s favorite historical themes. These films are instruments of Brazilian History knowledge and cultural memory, associating entertainment and quality. “Every effort is made to avoid didactic features and scholarly language in our productions, without loosing the fascination for the memory”, she states.
The calling to mobilize artistic resources favoring the knowledge process, translates the importance of Persona Films to the formation of new professionals in the cinema industry, particularly in Minas Gerais. The achievement of the Cineport Laboratory of Screen Plays , which had its first edition in 2007 counted with her active participation and leads to new perspectives to the growth of the cinematographic activity. The blog aprendizroteirista integrates the website of Persona Films is another creative contribution to the refinement to the screen writers work.
