HAPPY NEW YEAR?

 Years ago, I attended the inauguration of the Stefan Zweig Museum in Petrópolis (Brazil). It stays in the house where the Austrian writer committed suicide alongside his wife on February 22, 1942, depressed by the war and the situation of the Jews amid this tragic conflict. I asked myself why such a desperate act on the part of this author who was revered around the world.

As the year 2023 comes to an end, I somewhat understand the emotional hole Stefan dug himself into. From the top of his little house, perched on a hill in my beloved Petrópolis, he glimpsed the sad spectacle of humanity tearing itself apart.

Time passed, but the world changed little. It continues to be a planet inhabited by an immeasurable number of people blinded by hatred and prejudice.

A few days ago, I celebrated my birthday and the only advantage of getting older is that we can look around us with more critical and less naive eyes. What we see doesn't make our nights any calmer. We wake up at dawn, victims of a frightening lucidity.

It has been painful to read comments and posts from people I like and some I even admire writing nonsense regarding Israel, Zionism, the Jews, and this tragic conflict that is happening there.

The total lack of objectivity and historical perspective is what hurts the most. Well-intentioned people decide to shout as harbingers of justice, without looking in the mirror and identifying the image of medieval priests inciting the ignorant mob to invade the ghetto and slaughter the Jews.

No matter how “well-intentioned” they are, how much they legitimately sympathize with the fate of Palestinian civilians “massacred by the murderous rage of the Israelis”... They are simply and effectively repeating the role of all the triggers of pogroms and massacres that the Jews have suffered for the last 2000 years. And, like these, every drop of Jewish blood that has been and will be shed will inevitably weigh heavily on them in a karmic way.

The most dramatic thing about all this is that the non-Jewish world does not understand that Israel is fighting not only against Hamas, or Hezbollah. Israel is fighting for its existence. Any conflict between Israel and its neighbors has always been and will continue to be a life-and-death struggle.

Have any of you taken the trouble to look at the map of the region? If you haven't done it, do it. Look at the size of Israel and its Arab neighbors, most of whom still have no official peace treaty with Israel (Israel has only signed with Egypt and Jordan)...

Israel is slightly larger than the state of Sergipe (the smallest state in Brazil). Imagine the people of Sergipe having to face the rest of the Brazilians in a war. Two million people from Sergipe against the rest of the two hundred million Brazilians.

The notion that Jews are to blame for most of the problems of the ancient and modern world is beyond stupid. It's as ridiculous as thinking the earth is flat.

Today there are only 15.2 million Jews in the world, 0.2% of the world population, which is around 8.1 billion people. The equivalent of an ant threatening a herd of elephants...

We then arrive at the fallacy that Zionism is synonymous with colonialism, the fashion of the moment.

A people's right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of modern international law, defended as such by the United Nations. The accepted concept is that people have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status, without interference. This concept was first expressed in the 19th century and after World War I, it was encouraged by both Soviet Premier Vladimir Lenin and United States President Woodrow Wilson.

In 1920 there were fifty independent countries. Today, there are almost two hundred. One of the motivating forces behind this wave of country creation was self-determination – the concept that nations (groups of people united by ethnicity, language, geography, history, or other common characteristics) should be able to determine their political future. All people have this right, don't they? But the Jews don't. By asserting this right, they are accused of being colonialists and invaders...

Jews are a group united by ethnicity, language, history, and other common characteristics. Ah, but it lacked geography... Israel's detractors accuse the Jews of having no real ties to the territory they “chose” for their promised land.

Don't they have it? What other people have their history contained in the greatest bestseller of all time, whose content talks about how they emerged and lived in this land of their ancestors? A book that served as the basis for the two most important religions in the world today – Christianity and Islam. That little book is called the Bible. You can read it, it's all there.

But the Jews left there more than 2 thousand years ago, they say... Did they really leave?

The fact is that Jews remained in Israel even after the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E. After suppressing the last Jewish revolts, the Romans allowed a Jewish center to remain in Galilee. It was in this region that important Jewish rabbinical and literary decisions took place in the Middle Ages, lasting until the middle of 400 CE.

Current historians guarantee that Jews constituted the majority of the population until the Muslim conquest of the 7th century in 638. A conquest made at the point of a sword – whoever did not convert, died.

In 1099 the Crusaders reconquered Jerusalem and in the process massacred many inhabitants, both Muslims and Jews. Those who survived became involved in the trade of coastal cities. At that time there were Jewish communities spread across the country.

In 1187 Sultan Saladin defeated the Crusaders, retaking Jerusalem, and invited the Jews to return.

And, in 1517, the Ottoman Empire conquered the region and there was mass Jewish immigration. The Jewish community was made up of both descendants of Jews who had never left the land, and Jewish migrants from the diaspora.

In 1610, the Yochanan Ben Zakai Synagogue in Jerusalem became the main synagogue of Sephardic Jews and in 1714, Dutch researcher Adriaan Reland published an account of his visit to the region and recorded several Jewish population centers over there.

Throughout the 19th century until the 1880s, Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe as well as groups of Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Bulgaria, and North Africa immigrated, and in the early 20th century, tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants began to arrive. Ninety thousand acres of land were purchased (not stolen) by Jews and the revival of the Hebrew language in the region began.

In 1917, the Ottoman Empire ended and the region was under British rule until 1948 when the Jewish State was proclaimed and the Palestinians gave up proclaiming theirs, as had been agreed with the UN.

Detail: even fake news was recently posted stating that the Jews who came to live in the state of Israel from 1948 onwards were not descended from the original Jews. As if the lack of ancestral Jewish DNA was more important than the right of these Jews to self-determine as such... The fact is that current DNA research shows exactly the opposite. Today's Jews are the same as yesterday.

And more. One day in Israel, in the 70s, when I lived there and worked as an international correspondent, I heard an interesting report on ‘Kol Israel’, the Israeli public radio station that had quite intellectual program. The radio show told about this Palestinian village researchers discovered that they interestingly referred to Jews. In Arabic, these Palestinians called them “cousins”. The researchers interviewed the residents. They wanted to know if the custom was because, according to the Bible, Arabs and Jews descended from Abraham. To which the inhabitants of that village responded: “No, we are cousins ​​because in the past we were Jews too”. When the 'gentle' Islamic wave swept through the region in the 600s CE, forcibly converting everyone, they stopped being Jews and became Muslims, but retained the memory of their 'genetic' past.

In any case, if we let the slogan “from the river to the sea” pass without comment, we will then have to assume that the Jews who do not swim in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe (adding to the thousands of refugees already plaguing the region) will have to, one way or another, abandon Israel because they are nothing more than a bunch of “colonialist invaders”.

Whoever signs under this notion must also, for the sake of justice and ethics, warn the entire Brazilian population who came from Europe, Asia, Africa, and other regions after the discovery of Brazil, that they will have to leave and return the land to its legitimate and original residents, the Indians...

The same will be required of the rest of Latin American countries, as well as the United States and Canada. Right? It doesn't matter how many generations have passed since the unspeakable colonialist invasion of these territories. The South Africans and Australians won't be happy about it either.

Leaving aside the idiotic ideas and the cluelessness of the vociferous and bloodthirsty mobs, the biggest problem with this whole situation is the difficulty of a clear perspective.

Although reality is transparent, people seem to be – on both sides – looking at it through the distorted lens of emotion. An emotion, in large part, poisoned by lies and false concepts that the Jew is a pernicious being by nature. As a result, the Palestinians in opposition end up with the Manichaean role of the ‘good guys.’ No one is a saint or a devil in this story.

The truth is, that the Palestinians have their reasons and their fair demands. But the Jews have theirs too. Both people do not seek possession of that region because it is full of oil, gold, or any other wealth other than their love for the land itself.

There are places around the world whose governments would be happy to see populated. So much so that they offer all sorts of economic incentives for anyone who wants to move there.

In addition, also to the fact that Palestinians are receiving billions of dollars in contributions, whose Hamas leaders use to live comfortably away from Gaza; and Israel's commercial and creative capacity also generates a lot of capital. These two national groups could easily buy land in countless parts of the planet. But both of them want that dry, forsaken, and poorly located patch of land that is Israel/Palestine. So, before you say nonsense about “colonialism” and “invaders”, think about these facts.

And please, before publishing your next poisonous posts, have a little common sense and character, avoiding inciting hatred and propagating prejudices, deliberately adding fuel to the fire. Admit the limitations of your knowledge about the complexity of the subject and let those involved seek a path to negotiations and, who knows peace. If you can, help us have a truly wonderful and fraternal New Year...

THE END

BABYLON - A CENTER OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED

 by Wladimir Weltman

In March, the Oscars take place. It’s the most important event in the American film industry. This year, choosing nominees and winners is not an easy task. It was tough for the folks at the Golden Globes and us at the Critics Choice Awards when it came time to vote on the nominees. There were lots of good things to see and choose from.

Today, however, I decided to talk about a film that spoke to my heart and that should have the same effect on various film lovers around the world. A film that did not get as many nominations as expected, but which pleased a large part of the American public and the press. I'm talking about BABYLON from director Damien Chazelle.

Chazelle is that young filmmaker who enchanted everyone in 2016 with the film LA LA LAND; a box office success, which grossed over $430 million and received 14 Academy Award nominations. It took the Best Director Oscar (Chazelle), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Cinematography, Best Original Score (Justin Hurwitz), Best Original Song ("City of Stars"), and Best Production Design. The film is a declaration of love to Los Angeles and the entertainment industry – Emma's character was an aspiring starlet and Ryan Gosling's a jazz musician.

It's nothing new the fact that Hollywood loves a movie about itself - Narcissus is eternally in love with his image. No wonder Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD took home two Oscars in 2020 – Brad Pitt, Best Supporting Actor and Best Production Design for Barbara Ling & Nancy Haigh; having obtained 10 nominations. THE ARTIST, a 2011 French comedy-drama by Michel Hazanavicius and starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo; set in 1920s Hollywood and shot as a black-and-white silent movie, was nominated for 10 Oscars and won five - Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Dujardin, making him the first French actor to win in this category. And, let's not forget my favorite, SUNSET BOULEVARD (1951) by Billy Wilder (which had 11 nominations and won 3 Oscars – best screenplay, score, and art direction).

Even so, this second foray by Chazelle in this direction did not obtain the same results as his previous project. BABYLON received only one Oscar nomination, for Best Soundtrack. The Golden Globes nominated the film for Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt) and Best Soundtrack (Justin Hurwitz), and it ended up taking the second one home. And, at the Critics Choice Awards, Chazelle was nominated for Best Director and Margot Robbie for Best Actress. Neither of them won. I wonder why?

Leaving aside the possible allegations of cleverness in the pursuit of awards by pleasing the Hollywood voting crowd by talking about Tinseltown, the fact is that for anyone who loves the seventh art and has a special affection for the genesis of cinema, BABYLON is a delightful film to watch and enjoy.

I love the historical period of Hollywood that the film pays homage to. I'm an amateur tour guide to historic locations and places linked to the silent film era here in Los Angeles, where figures like Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks, Lilian Gish, Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd, and Gloria Swanson ruled the field.

A time when creativity soared and Hollywood wasn't conservative at all quite the contrary...

To write his screenplay, Chazelle delved deeply into this historical period, basing his characters on real people and factual situations of the time - however far-fetched they may seem.

When people talk about that period, they usually call it “The Roaring Twenties”. Hollywood was unconventional back then. Cinema was taking its first steps and the media was looking for its language. The established society, the old money, and the “High Society” saw cinema as a business for immigrants, vaudeville people, delinquents, and associates. And what they produced was mass entertainment, cheap stuff and they preferred to stay away from it. That opened the doors to artists, dreamers, and loony ones to occupy this space that was growing fast and yielding unexpected profits. With the shift of film production from the east coast to Los Angeles, a new era of the Wild West has dawned there.

Let's see the real stories that inspired Chazelle in the creation of his film:

Brad Pitt's character Jack Conrad is inspired by more than one silent film star. The most obvious of all is the so-called “King of Hollywood”, Douglas Fairbanks. He was the first action star of American cinema, having lived on-screen characters like the thief of Baghdad, Robin Hood, and Zorro. Married to “America's sweetheart”, Mary Pickford, the couple was 'Hollywood royalty'. But Fairbanks' career quickly declined with the advent of talkies. His last film was THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN (1934). He walked away from Hollywood of his own free will, disgusted with the talkies’ film production of those early years - soundproof studios, with fixed microphones, prevented his essentially physical silent film performance. He died 10 years after the change, a victim of a heart attack.

Another who inspired Chazelle in the creation of Pitt’s character was the cowboy Art Acord (1890 - 1931). Acord was a cowboy and rodeo champion. During World War I he served in Europe and earned the “Croix de Guerre” for gallantry from the French government. He was married 3 times, to three different actresses. No marriage worked. In 1928 he suffered a domestic accident that damaged his eyesight. Drinking and the inability to adapt to talkies ended his film career. He committed suicide in 1931 in Mexico by taking cyanide in a hotel room. None of his films survive so we can’t see his work on screen anymore.

Margot Robbie's character, Nellie LaRoy, is an amalgamation of more than one silent film star who failed to make the transition to talkies like Vilma Banky, Mae Murray, Pola Negri, and Norma Talmadge. But the closest thing to her BABYLON's bubbly character is undoubtedly Clara Bow, Hollywood's "it" girl, whose wild, sexy, and explosive reputation was a favorite subject of gossip magazines.

Bow was born into poverty in a New York tenement and became famous, among other things, for being able to cry when the cameras focused on her. Unlike the others who moved away from the screen because of the sound, Clara Bow maintained her position as the highest-grossing person in Hollywood even after the change. Her downfall was emotional.

In 1930, with the films PARAMOUNT ON PARADE, TRUE TO THE NAVY, LOVE AMONG THE MILLIONAIRES, and HER WEDDING NIGHT, Bow was second at the box office only to Joan Crawford. In 1931 she remained among the top box office actresses, but the pressures of fame, public scandal, and overwork took a toll on Bow's fragile emotional health. To recover, she moved away from Hollywood to a ranch in Nevada, her "desert paradise". But soon returned and continued to be successful in talkies. Even so, she decided to retire permanently in 1933, when she began to show symptoms of mental illness. Bow ended up alone in a bungalow in Culver City, under the constant care of a nurse. She rarely left the house until her death in 1965, aged 60, from a heart attack.

The film also pays homage to actress Anna May Wong (1905 –1961), with the character Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li). Of Chinese origin, despite the racial prejudices of the time, Anna May Wong starred in films such as THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1924) and later, alongside Marlene Dietrich, SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932). Managing to have a TV career as well.

Another honoree is Adela Rogers St John (1894 –1988), a columnist who worked for Photoplay magazine in the 1920s. In BABYLON, the wonderful Jean Smart plays the character Elinor St John, a gossip columnist who summarizes with her eloquence the important moments of the film, defining its subliminal messages. The real-life columnist was also a fascinating character, dubbed "the world's greatest female reporter" in the 1920s, and later a literary author.

BABYLON creates a wonderful panel of the historical period in which the seventh art was in its infancy. Written and directed by a movie buff like me, Chazelle constantly refers in BABYLON to one of my favorite films from the 50s, SINGING IN THE RAIN. Interestingly, when I watched this film for the first time, I felt a certain irony when I saw that the story minimized the drama it portrayed for most people who worked and lived in Hollywood when silent movies change to talkies. An entire artistic/professional world was uprooted. To survive (those who did), they had to adapt. I knew the tragic stories this change spawned. Stories are far removed from the happy ending of SINGING IN THE RAIN. In other words, many people stood in the rain, without an umbrella and without any desire to sing or dance... Despite being a great cinematic fantasy, BABILON is the realistic version of SINGING IN THE RAIN.

Maybe that's why BABYLON doesn't appeal to everyone in Hollywood, but for those who like me love cinema, the story that Chazelle told on screen is great. Here I take advantage of a quote from the real Hollywood columnist, Adela Rogers St John that journalist Megan McCluskey recently posted:

"Hollywood was a gilded slum with tinsel covering the drama and heartbreak, a center of the beautiful and damned."

END

 

 

 

A BIT OF THE CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS BACKSTAGE FOR YOU...

 

I prepared for you this article about the backstage of the Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Plaza in Century City. In the attached video you will see all the action at the show’s room and the arrival cocktail. 

When we arrived, we met colleagues, bump into celebrities, appreciate the most beautiful and daring outfits; eat the finger food that are served, because you never knew what is going to be served in the dining room...

I arrived early when the cocktail area was not yet full and I met friends and celebrities, such as the couple Silvia Bottini (Italian actress) and her husband, the journalist Matteo Ghidoni; the American journalist Steve Goldman; Brazilian journalists Cleide Klock and Jana Nascimento, with their respective husbands; journalists Virág Vida from Hungary and Sara Gerlach Madsen from Denmark; actress Judy Greer (13 GOING ON 30, THE DESCENDANTS, JURASSIC WORLD, ANT-MAN, 15:17, HALLOWEEN ENDS); the cast of ARGENTINA 1985, actors Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani, the director Santiago Mitre, and the lawyer who lived the drama in real life, Luís Moreno Ocampo; Michel Emerson (from EVIL, THE NAME OF THE ROSE, PERSON OF INTEREST); film critic Leonard Maltin and the RRR director, S. S. Rajamouli. Not forgetting Mr. Ben Stiller.

At 3:30 PM we were invited to enter the main room, where lunch/dinner was waiting for us – three little piles; one of olive paste, another with eggplant cream, humus, and red peppers; a tiny piece of artichoke, three toasts, and three olives - viola! This was our meal during the 3 hours of the show...

To kill hunger, just water, champagne, and red wine. A dangerous liquid meal. At least I sat among many stars. At the next table were actors Sebastian Stan (PAM & TOMMY, AVENGERS: END GAME, BLACK PANTHER), and Melanie Lynskey (DON’T LOOK UP, YELLOWJACKETS, TWO AND A HALF MEN). In the various commercial breaks, everyone, famous or not, would get up and chat with friends at other tables. Actors Kegan-Michael Key (THE PROM, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, JUNGLE, JANGLE), Johnny Knoxville (JACKASS, SKIP TRACE, THE LAST STAND), Tyler James William (ABBOT ELEMENTARY, EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS) and Giancarlo Esposito (KALEIDOSCOPE, BETTER CALL SAUL, THE MANDALORIAN, ALI), passed by ours and I photographed them.

I enjoyed it when Jeff Bridges received his Lifetime Achievement Award from his friend and THE BIG LEBOWSKI film colleague John Goodman.

Jeff said that the event was taking place exactly on his father's birthday, Lloyd Bridges. In his speech, he said: “He is the reason I am here. My dad loved showbiz and being an actor. As a kid, I said, 'Dad, I'm not sure I want to be an actor. Perhaps I prefer painting or music.' He reacted, 'Jeff, don't be ridiculous. Being an actor, you're going to do all those things. And tell wonderful stories, from different human perspectives. This is a wonderful profession. "

What happens during the commercials is that those stars that we admire so much and only see on the red carpet, or receiving awards, leave their tables and “stars-like behavior” and go chat with their buddies, who are also stars. I recorded with my cell phone the time Kate Blanchet came to the table next to ours, to hug an Australian colleague; and then had a long chat with Julia Garner (INVENTING ANNA, OZARK, THE AMERICANS). And Guillermo Del Toro, who thanked James Cameron onstage when his film PINNOCHIO won best-animated film, later went to chat with Cameron at his table. I recorded everything; I just couldn't hear what they said.

And some speeches were moving like ABBOT ELEMENTARY actress Sheryl Lee Ralph who said, “To all of you watching, get up close to the screen and listen. People don't have to like you, people don't have to love you, and people don't even have to respect you. But when you look in the mirror, you better love what you see!”

Singer and actress Janelle Monáe, who stars in the film GLASS ONION, was also applauded as she received the award for her support of women's causes. But the most emotional and tearful speech of the night was that of Brendan Fraser who received the Best Actor Award for his performance in THE WHALE: “This film is about love. It's about redemption. It's about finding the light in a dark place."

The party ended with EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE got the Best Picture Award. I think our party was much more relaxed, intimate, and good-humored than the Golden Globes. Our Host, Chelsea Handler, gave an opening monologue that was much more amusing than Jerrod Carmichael's (no one knows who he is) and which was aimed at hurting the organization responsible for the Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. And the overall atmosphere of the night, as you can see in the images, was one of a relaxed party. Anyway, I enjoyed this night of pure hype among Hollywood stars.

At the exit, in the cocktail hall, there was a feast waiting for us; sushi and Italian food and sweets, and lots of elegant people jostling each other to satisfy their 3-hour hunger. I confess that I ate little because my favorite film – ARGENTINA 1985 – did not win the prize for Best Foreign Language Film, which went to RRR. My fellow CCA members did not grasp the quality and importance of the Argentinian film. That’s life. But we still have the Oscars ahead of us...

#criticschoiceawards #criticschoice #hollywood #oscars #celebrities #wladimirweltman

Here is the video of that party night: https://youtu.be/gdJE_X6kGrM

THE MESSAGE IN THE BOTTLE by Wladimir Weltman

I have just returned from a trip to Holland where I went to the opening of AUGUST WILLEMSEN - DE BLADZIJ EM DE WERKELIJKHEID (AUGUST WILLEMSEN - THE PAGE AND THE REALITY) by Frederieke Jochems, a very special documentary. It deals with the life and work of Dutch writer August Willemsen, who before becoming a bestseller as an author in his country, was the most important translator of Brazilian literature in the Netherlands. Thanks to him, names like Machado de Assis and Carlos Drummond de Andrade became bestsellers in Dutch bookstores.

I met August in 1984 when I went to visit a friend who was finishing his studies at the Royal Dutch Academy - the photographer Sergio Zalis. He presented as his final work at the academy a book of photographs illustrating poems by Drummond translated by August into Dutch. The marriage of photos and poems was so perfect that the then-Brazilian ambassador in The Hague, Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, opened the embassy halls for an exhibition with the photos and poems.

Aware of what was happening and having met Augusto personally, I thought that all of this would make a great story for my TV show at Globo, VIDEO SHOW. The embassy staff lent me some old videotape equipment and I interview August. On my return to Brazil, I offered the story to Ronaldo Curi, the show’s director. He liked it a lot, but the station's artistic direction found the material too sophisticated for the VIDEO SHOW’s audience. Ronaldo then suggested I offered it to Eric Nepomuceno, editor-in-chief of JORNAL DA GLOBO, the late-night newscast, the most sophisticated in the station. Eric liked it. He asked me to produce the story, which aired with good repercussions. For those who want to see it, here is the link: https://youtu.be/vRJfG3U295c

At the same time that the story aired, August arrived in Rio to work on what would be his first authorial book – CARTAS BRASILEIRAS. A collection of his correspondence with Dutch friends during the 4 visits he made to Brazil over several years. The final part of the book he wrote at my house - an old mansion in Cosme Velho, which my father had bought and was under construction. It was just dust and mess. But Augusto loved the place, as it was next door to the house of Machado de Assis, one of his literary idols.

Interestingly, August's trips to Rio were always celebrated by members of the Brazilian Literature Academy, the Brazilian writer’s highest institution. The national literary community in general was very hospitable to August, as having his books translated by him in Holland was a guarantee of a decent income for our writers, victims of dwindling royalties.

The book CARTAS BRASILEIRAS (BRAZILIAANSE BRIEVEN) was launched in 1985 and became a bestseller in Holland overnight, launching Augusto's career as an author.

Writing letters was one of his hobbies. I have had the privilege of corresponding over the years with him. And I got to visit him in Holland. My wife and I stayed in his apartment in the multi-ethnic Bijlmermeer district of Amsterdam.

Unfortunately, Augusto died in 2007, partly as a result of the consequences of his addiction to alcohol. The documentary deals with this and many other aspects of the life and personality of this brilliant writer and dear friend.

After the screening of the documentary at the theater of the OBA public library in Amsterdam and a reception attended by Brazilian diplomats, Ambassador Paulo Roberto de Caminha França and Consul José Luís Viera, Brazilian delicacies and caipirinha were served to those present. Days later, there was also the inauguration of a bust of August in the Amsterdam cemetery, next to his tomb. The statue of the writer's very personal face (he reminded me of the American comic Danny Kaye), made by the Dutch artist Pépé Grégoire, has a characteristic that Augusto would love – the inside of the head is hollow, and with openings so that birds can make their nest in the inside. Perfect for someone who has always had a mind full of beautiful things.

Thirty-seven years later, the Brazilian publisher Arte&Letra finally launches the book CARTAS BRASILEIRAS in Brazil in its Portuguese version, and we will be able to get to know Brazil seen through the eyes of this perceptive and critical Dutchman, whose amusing but blunt text outlined a profile of our reality which enchanted the Dutch people. I also hope that a Brazilian distributor takes the hint and gets the documentary AUGUST WILLEMSEN - DE BLADZIJ EM DE WERKELIJKHEID to be shown on Brazilian screens.

#augustwillemsen #holland #debladzijendewerkelijkheid #braziliaansebrieven #cartasbrasileiras

                           

 

 

OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, ELECTIONS AND CHOICES MONTHS...

 

On October 30th, Brazil made the right choice, the best choice for the country. Thank God. And this week I just voted here in California for Governor and the Mayor of Los Angeles. Certainly, here the Democrats will have a majority.

Hollywood is also getting ready to elect its favorites for 2022. This time of the year, the crazy race for awards begins – Oscars, Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, etc.

Every day, we journalists receive invitations to premieres, cocktails, and the most varied number of events, as well as receiving access to screeners via the Internet and even DVDs with movies and TV series. It's a real avalanche. A delight...

Over the weekend, while the American Film Market took place, on the seafront in the Santa Monica neighborhood, when producers and distributors of all types of audiovisuals gather to buy, sell and make new projects viable, an extensive delegation of Brazilians from SPCINE, the São Paulo filmmakers, took the city by storm. Among them was my dear friend and companion from TV Globo (now belonging to O2 production company), Gustavo Gontijo.

Guto, as we call him, is a fan of Steven Spielberg and, luckily, I was invited by my American friend Steve Goldman, a member of the Writer's Guild of America to watch the great director's new film at WGA theater. THE FABELMANS is an autobiographical project about Spielberg's youth on his way to Hollywood. I took Guto with me because at the end of the screening the director himself would be present to talk to those in the audience.

Spielberg came in cheered by those presents. As he approached our row, Guto extended the palm of his hand to him. Spielberg did not hesitate and spread his hand in the traditional American “high five”. I believe Guto will never wash his hands again... The joy on his face was indescribable.

The next night our program was dinner at a cozy Filipino Hollywood restaurant called La Rose Café. The dinner was to welcome actress Dolly De Leon from the film TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, a macabre comedy by director Ruben Östlunde, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The food was great and so was the conversation. And Dolly is a nice lady, besides being the best thing about the movie.

And, closing the weekend marathon, Monday night Netflix invited the press, artists, and collaborators to enjoy the PLAYLIST of its new productions in the process of being released. We are talking about the soundtrack of projects like BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS by Alejandro González Iñárritu; GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY; LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER; WHITE NOISE and GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO.

The event took place in this new Netflix place -- Lighthouse ArtSpace -- on Sunset Boulevard (where the well-known record store Amoeba Hollywood used to be). In a huge hall, we watched a debate between Netflix music supervisors about their work on these projects, followed by the presentation of unreleased videos on the four walls of the hall of series such as THE CROWN (season 5), Tim Burton's WEDNESDAY and the musical film MATILDA. The song “Paper Airplanes” music video from the movie JAZZMAN'S BLUES, with singer Ruth B. present at the event. And a full orchestra performing live excerpts from the soundtracks of the films mentioned above. With the special bonus of having PINOCCHIO’s music conducted by the author himself, maestro Alexandre Desplat. Finally, the musical “New Body Rhumba” from the movie WHITE NOISE was presented on video and with dancers around us in the event hall.

After the presentation, we were invited to participate in a dinner/reception with drinks and varied foods. A Hollywood night as it should be. I took the opportunity to take a “selfie” with WHITE NOISE and WEDNESDAY soundtracks composer Danny Elfman.

After all this snobbery, I can only end this conversation like any celebrity columnist of the 1960s would do, in French, saying - A demain!

#awards #Oscars #GoldenGlobes #criticschoiceawards #hollywood #spielberg #TriangleOfSadness #TheFabelmans #pinocchio #wednesday #netflix #O2

UM FILME QUE O BRASIL PRECISA VER!

 QUANDO ESSE FILME PINTAR NO BRASIL, NAO PERCAM!

https://www.chumbogordo.com.br/416801-um-filme-que-o-brasil-precisa-ver-por-wladimir-weltman/

#argentina1985 #RicardoDarin #DitaduraNuncaMais #cinemaargentino #TorturaNuncaMais

THANK YOU, LILIBET AND YOUR AMAIZING LAND

 

THANK YOU, LILIBET AND YOUR AMAIZING LAND

by Wladimir Weltman

Thanks to Elisabeth II I got my first cover story as a professional journalist. I and my best friend, the Brazilian/Argentinian photographer Sergio Zalis were living in London and send our stories to Manchete Magazine, the most important weekly outlet of the time, and to Jornal do Brasil newspaper, the second most important daily nationwide. Today Sergio posted the cover picture he took of the Queen passing by in her carriage on the day of her Jubilee in 1977 with amazing reactions from the readers, so I decided to do my part e tell how this great photo was taken to show my appreciation to the Queen and her country, which I love. Coincidentally, I'm working on my memoirs to leave to my son and hoping some editor in Brazil decides to publish them. This is the excerpt from the book in which I comment on that very special day in 1977...

"THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE

Our second big story we sent from London to Manchete magazine that end up getting the cover was about the Queen’s Jubilee. The headline by the magazine's director, Roberto Muggiati, on the magazine's front page, reported that 1,500 photos of the jubilee coverage from news agencies and international magazine offices had reached the editorial staff that week, including some by master Photographer Henri Cartier Bresson. But in the 11 pages of the report, there were 14 of Sergio’s photos, in addition to the cover picture, which he took over my shoulder, in the middle of Trafalgar Square’s crowd. I wrote 10 pages of text, which, to make room for the photos, did not exceed 50 printed lines, that is, 2 pages... It didn't matter to me, in the two-page opening photo, it was there registered my name as the author. With my chest puffed out with pride, I turned and turned the pages until I was tired. This photo with the Vieira brothers and Sérgio was taken that day, shortly after the Queen's carriage had passed by”...

Later in the book I wrote about Adolfo Bloch, the owner of Manchete, reaction when we met him months later in Paris, at the company’s office, and mentioned that we were the team responsible for the Queen's Jubilee in London. Mr. Bloch remembered this issue of the magazine very well:

“WHAT A PIECE OF…!

We arrived in Paris on July 21, 1977. Shortly after, we went to visit Manchete’s office on Place de La Concorde, facing the obelisk. The famous square where, during the French Revolution, the nobles of France had their heads guillotined. That day I felt exactly what they felt when they arrived there.

We were welcomed by the friendly branch chief Sylvio Silveira. But the general atmosphere of the place was tense. It's just that on that day they were receiving another illustrious visitor. The owner of Manchete, Mr. Adolfo Bloch. I already knew him from Brazil, which doesn't mean that I felt comfortable in his presence. Mr. Bloch was an unpredictable figure... When I saw him there, I greeted him, introducing myself and telling him that Sérgio and I had done the cover story of about the Queen’s Jubilee in England. To which Adolfo reacted with just one word: “What a great piece of shit!”

We almost fainted right there. Mr. Bloch felt that he was a little too heavy in his words and explained himself: “The article was good, but the magazine didn't sell anything. It was the biggest flop.” For him, the journalistic value had to be proportional to the commercial one. Despite Sérgio’s cover photo being the only one that showed Queen Elisabeth among the people – the covers of Paris Match and Life magazine only showed the carriage from afar – for Mr. Bloch, the ideal photo for the magazine’s cover would be a beautiful woman scantly dressed. Only a girl would ensure good results. So much so that his fights with the magazine's management when choosing the cover photo were anthological. There was one time he even chewed the negative of a photo he didn’t want to be printed on it.”

My affection for the Queen and her country proceeds from the fact that both of them have always been very generous to me. I don't know about you, but I believe that, as Don Juan, the Indian witch from Carlos Castaneda’s books use to say, there are “places of power” that welcome and favor us. For me, England has always been like that. My dearest journalistic stories were made on this rainy island. A place that is full of tradition, legends, and great stories. It was there that I found subjects like Punk Rockers – a youth social phenomenon from the 70s, which included a kind of aggressive and noisy music, as well as a sui generis fashion. Plus, their unique English Pubs, Squatters, and so many other articles I wrote at that time. All of them were well documented by Sérgio’s photographs.

And, in the 1980s, I returned to the land of Lilibet for a series of tourism articles for O Globo newspaper, with photos by my wife, photographer Gaby Atherton. Stories that included ghostbusting in England; a real fox hunt; a visit to Richard III's battlefield; William Shakespeare's teddy bears and a London tourist guide for children.

Because of all that, I bow here for the passage of this great queen and welcome the new monarch of my dear English friends and their wonderful land of dreams and stories.

God Save the King!