Helena Solberg Cineclub presents FIRST TAKES

The Helena Solberg Cineclub welcomes the 22nd London Short Film Festival! In the programme FIRST TAKES: EARLY SHORT FILMS BY GREAT BRAZILIAN DIRECTORS, we’ve delved into the depths of five beloved Brazilian filmmakers’ careers to find the short films that are most indicative of their nascent talents, displaying initial glimpses into their genius, themes, aesthetic interests, and a hint of the filmmaking greatness that was to come. We’ve brought together the (relatively unknown - outside of Brazil) short films that put the now big names of Anna Muylaert, Cao Hamburger & Eliana Fonseca, Ana Luiza Azevedo & Jorge Furtado, Marcelo Gomes and Sandra Kogut on the map. Nowadays, they are synonymous with the best of contemporary Brazilian cinema, which turns heads at the ritziest of international film festivals.

Amidst the political and economic turmoil of the late 1980s and early 1990s – which all but saw the end of public support for national cinema, almost entirely paralysing production – these directors throve with thrilling little treasures that are well worth checking out. An extraordinary window into both their approach to filmmaking when they were just starting out and the evolution of a signature style.

The London Short Film Festival is the UK's leading short film festival, founded in the early 1990s and now a BAFTA and BIFA qualifying, internationally-regarded independent festival. Each January, it hosts ten days of short films, live events, Q&As and multidisciplinary curation, in addition to an industry offering of workshops, panels and discussion for filmmakers and workers. LSFF exists to spotlight a multiplicity of filmmakers, visual artists and creatives, across intersections and with a commitment to peripheral voices, giving screen-space and visibility to unconventional and thoroughly independent filmmaking. In 2025, LSFF will run from the 17th to the 26th of January in several venues across London, such as the Embassy of Brazil, the ICA, BFI Southbank, Rich Mix, Rio Cinema, Curzon Soho, The Garden Cinema, among others.

Films (total running time 83min.):

FRANKENSTEIN PUNK (dir. Cao Hamburger & Eliana Fonseca, 1986)

BARBOSA (dir. Ana Luiza Azevedo & Jorge Furtado, 1988)

MARACATU, MARACATUS (dir. Marcelo Gomes, 1995)

THE ORIGIN OF BABIES ACCORDING TO KIKI CAVALCANTI | A ORIGEM DOS BEBÊS SEGUNDO KIKI CAVALCANTI (dir. Anna Muylaert, 1995)

HERE AND THERE | LÁ E CÁ (dir. Sandra Kogut, 1995)

There will be drinks to welcome the audience, kindly provided by Go Brazil Wines & Spirits, and the screening will start at 6.30pm.

All the films have English subtitles.

Host or Publisher Embassy of Brazil in London