Pictures of Ghosts

Pictures of Ghosts

Kleber Mendonça Filho / 2023 / 93 / Brazil

Brazil’s official selection for the 2024 Academy Awards, PICTURES OF GHOSTS, from acclaimed director Kleber Mendonça Filho (BACURAU, AQUARIUS and NEIGHBORING SOUNDS), is a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking, set in the urban landscape of Recife, Brazilian coastal capital of Pernambuco: a historical and human territory, examined through the great movie theatres that served as spaces of conviviality during the 20th century. Having hosted dreams and progress, these places have also embodied a major transformation on social practices. Combining archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories, PICTURES OF GHOSTS is a map of a city through the lens of cinema.

 

A Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films Co-Release.

  • Director

    Kleber Mendonça Filho

  • Producer

    Emilie Lesclaux

  • "Critic's Pick! An exhilarating documentary... A cleareyed, deeply personal and formally inspired rumination on life, death, family, movies and those complicated, invariably haunted places we call home."

    — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

  • “Triumphant! As with Godard and Paris, Fellini and Rome, Scorsese and New York, Mendonca Filho is a filmmaker whose craft is deeply intertwined with his love of a city. What a beautiful thing.”

    — Rafaela Sales Ross, Playlist

  • "PICTURES OF GHOSTS is so lovely and alive that, if anything, it only reassures you that movies aren’t going anywhere."

    — Alison Willmore, Vulture

  • "A lovely, enveloping film."

    — Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

  • “A heartfelt love letter to filmmaking and film watching the world over.”

    — Lee Marshall, Screen

  • “A celebration… full of hope and wonder. An urgent, moving piece of preservation.”

    — Guiherme Jacobs, IndieWire
Stills

Where to Watch

New York Film Festival

New York, NY

10/09/2023

AFI Silver Theatre

Silver Springs, MD

10/11/2023

Chicago International Film Festival

Chicago, IL

10/14/2023

AFI Fest

Los Angeles, CA

10/26/2023

Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival

Los Angeles, CA

11/06/2023

Film at Lincoln Center

New York, NY

01/26/2024

Gene Siskel Film Center

Chicago, IL

01/26/2024

Gateway Film Center

Columbus, OH

02/02/2024

Laemmle Glendale

Glendale, CA

02/02/2024

FilmScene

Iowa City, IA

02/09/2024

UW Cinematheque

Madison, WI

02/23/2024

Brattle Theatre

Boston, MA

02/23/2024

American Cinematheque, Los Feliz

Los Angeles, CA

03/01/2024

Lumiere Music Hall

Los Angeles, CA

03/08/2024

Webster Film Series

St. Louis, MO

03/13/2024

San Diego Latino Film Festival

San Diego, CA

03/14/2024

Belcourt Theatre

Nashville, TN

03/20/2024

Upstate Films, Orpheum Theatre

Saugerties, NY

03/22/2024

Lightbox Film Center

Philadelphia, PA

03/23/2024

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Oklahoma, OK

03/28/2024

Cleveland Cinematheque

Cleveland, OH

03/28/2024

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Houston, TX

04/25/2024

Doc Films

Chicago, IL

04/27/2024

Wexner Center for the Arts

Columbus, OH

05/16/2024

Speed Art Museum

Louisville, KY

05/31/2024

National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC

07/21/2024