The historic city of Tiradentes, in Minas Gerais, will once again become the epicenter of Brazilian cinema starting this Friday (23), with the opening of the 29th edition of the Tiradentes Film Festival. The first day of the event brings together a celebration of popular culture, a tribute to Karine Teles, one of the main actresses of her generation, and the world premiere of a new film by filmmaker Júlio Bressane, in a ceremony that officially inaugurates the country’s audiovisual calendar in 2026.
The opening takes place at the Cine-Tenda, set up in Largo das Forras, and will focus on the curatorial theme of this edition, “Imaginative Sovereignty”. The night begins with an audiovisual performance directed by Chico de Paula and Lira Ribas, inspired by the Folia de Reis tradition.
The proposal is to articulate rituals, songs, movements and images as a metaphor for artistic creation and imagination as a force of belonging and cultural reinvention.
“Inspired by the celebration that traditionally opens the year and announces the good news, the performance recreates Folia de Reis as a rite of passage, in which imagination takes center stage”, says Chico de Paula.
According to him, the staging dialogues with the space of the street and the tent, “reinforcing the idea of movement, of something that announces itself and transforms collectively”.
Actress Karine Teles is honored at the Tiradentes Film Festival, by Dudu Mafra/Disclosure
Karine Teles honored
On the same night, the Exhibition pays tribute to the actress, screenwriter and director Karine Teles, a central name in contemporary Brazilian cinema. With a career marked by movement between independent cinema and larger-scale productions, Karine has built a career that combines authorial rigor, aesthetic invention and dialogue with the general public.
“Receiving this honor in Tiradentes, such an important space for Brazilian cinema, is also celebrating the meetings and processes that formed me as an artist”, says the actress, in a statement released by the organization.
On Saturday (24), the honoree participates in a conversation open to the public, at 5 pm, in which she revisits her trajectory and discusses creative processes, mediated by researcher Pedro Maciel Guimarães.
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80 years of Júlio Bressane
Also at the opening ceremony, the short film will be shown in a world premiere The Phantom of the Operanew work by Júlio Bressane, co-directed by Rodrigo Lima.
Lasting 25 minutes, the film was constructed from images captured during filming breaks for the unreleased feature film. Pythianstarring Paulo Betti.
Although it dialogues with the tradition of making ofthe short moves towards a speculative reflection on the construction of the cinematic image itself, one of the central axes of Bressane’s work. The choice of film takes on additional significance as it coincides with the celebration of the filmmaker’s 80th birthday, which will be completed in February.
Over the course of nine days, until January 31st, the Tiradentes Film Festival shows 137 Brazilian films in preview, 43 feature films and 93 short films, distributed across 21 screenings and special sessions. All programming is free and includes debates, conversation circles, training activities, market meetings and discussions on public policies for audiovisual.
Movie scene The Phantom of the Operashort film directed by Julio Bressane and Rodrigo Lima Photo: TB Produções/Disclosure
