Pictures of Ghosts

Cities are living organisms, in constant evolution and motion, transformation and change; that said, cities are also simultaneously records – frozen in time – of what once was and no longer is, of what has passed, of what stopped being somewhere along the way. At each moment in the present, cities carry their past with them, harboring “ghosts” of their own in every nook and cranny. In this thrilling documentary, the city of Recife in Brazil – a tangible and intangible construct unfurling its myriad manifestations – enters into dialogue with its own memories through the filmmaker’s lens and poetic gaze. An account of the ongoing metamorphosis of a place and its inhabitants: phantoms – both visible and invisible – in a ceaseless search for identity.

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Direction: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Script: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Cinematography: Pedro Sotero

Editing: Matheus Farias

Sound: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Ricardo Cutz

Production: Cinemascópio

Producers: Emilie Lesclaux

Co-production: Vitrine Filmes

Co-producers: Silvia Cruz, Felipe Lopes

Format: DCP

Color: Color, B&W

Production Country: Brazil

Production Year: 2023

Duration: 93'

Contact: Urban Sales

Awards/Distinctions: Best Documentary – Lima FF 2023

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Filmography

2008 Critico
2012 Neighboring Sounds (fiction)
2014 The World Cup in Recife (TV, short)
2016 Aquarius (fiction)
2018 Bacurau (co-direction)
2023 Pictures of Ghosts