"EDUARDO & MÔNICA” TO MAKE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 37TH MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL

 "EDUARDO & MÔNICA” TO MAKE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 37^TH MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL

Directed by René Sampaio and inspired by Renato Russo's song, the film will be first screened on March 8 at the Silverspot Cinema, with the presence of Alice Braga, Gabriel Leone, René Sampaio, Bianca de Felippes, Claudia Souto and Gabriel Bortolini.

Due to high demand and sold-out tickets for the session planned by the Festival, a second screening will take place on the same day.

            "Eduardo & Mônica” was selected for the Official Competitive Exhibition of the 37^th Miami Film Festival. The film's world premiere will take place on March 8 in a session with the entire team, including the protagonists Alice Braga and Gabriel Leone, director René Sampaio, co-writer Claudia Souto, producer Bianca de Felippes and executive producer Gabriel Bortolini.

The adaptation of Renato Russo's famous song is a love story that follows the relationship between Mônica (Alice Braga), a bohemian medical student, and Eduardo (Gabriel Leone), a naïve and goofy high schooler. They need to overcome significant differences to live a great love in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, in the mid-1980s.

One of the greatest poets of all time in the Brazilian rock music scene, Renato Russo's lyrics tell richly detailed and unforgettable stories in a style reminiscent of Bob Dylan. He has inspired many people, but perhaps none more so than filmmaker René Sampaio. Sampaio's blockbuster debut feature, "Brazilian Western", was based on Russo's epic, nine-minute-long "Faroeste Caboclo". Now again Sampaio draws inspiration from one of Russo's most beloved songs in the funny and heartwarming "Eduardo & Mônica". This is the second film of a trilogy that the director and the producer Bianca de Felippes will make about Renato’s songs.

"Eduardo & Mônica" is scheduled to launch on June 11, on the eve of the Brazilian equivalent of Valentine's Day. The movie is produced by Gávea Filmes, Barry Company and Fogo Cerrado Filmes, co-produced by Globo Filmes and with Reprodutora as associate producer, and is distributed by Downtown Filmes and Paris Filmes.

In its 37^th edition, the Miami Film Festival is today a showcase of creativity, bringing together films from around the world that have stood out in Europe's greatest festivals. The event plays an essential role in helping American audiences overcome the barrier of subtitles – as acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho urged when he won the Golden Globe and the Oscar for "Parasite" – and of cultural manifestations far from WASP standards.

Sampaio is a Brazilian director, producer and screenwriter. His debut feature film, "Brazilian Western" (2013), brought over 1.5M viewers to Brazilian theaters and topped seven categories in the Brazilian Academy Awards, including Best Fiction Film. Gaining worldwide recognition, it premiered internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival and was screened at the Miami Film Festival and the Shanghai International Film Festival, among others.

“Eduardo & Mônica” was filmed in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and the Chapada dos Veadeiros national park for eight weeks in 2018. The main team had more than 200 people. Producer Bianca De Felippes, director René Sampaio, cinematography Gustavo Hadba and art director Tiago Marques, cast producer Marcela Altberg and executive producer Gabriel Bortolini, among other professionals, got together again after the success of “Brazilian Western”.

"The film is a delicate love story that talks, among other things, about how it's possible to love and respect those who think very differently from you. To some extent, everyone has been like Eduardo or like Mônica in some relationship," says director René Sampaio. “It was very important for us to be faithful to Renato's spirit. From all the songs composed by him, this is the sunniest. The idea was to maintain this energy,” adds Bianca De Felippes.

If “The Edge of Democracy” by Petra Costa, Brazil's indication to the Oscars, reveals a divided nation with wounds that are hard to heal, “Eduardo & Mônica” hopes to show that there is a way to live and love despite all these differences.

Gabriel Leone and Alice Braga work together for the first time in this film, interpreting the dilemmas of the characters who fall in love and start a relationship even though they differ completely in age, personality and background. Also in the cast are Otávio Augusto (as Bira, Eduardo's grandfather), Juliana Carneiro da Cunha (Lara, Mônica's mother), Victor Lamoglia (Inácio, Eduardo's best friend), Bruna Spínola (Karina, Mônica's sister) and Fabrício Boliveira as special guest.

With a script signed by Matheus Souza in partnership with Claudia Souto, Michele Frantz and Jéssica Candal, the film takes place in 1986, the year the song was released, and the attentive viewer will find tributes to emblematic events of the period. The original soundtrack was composed by Lucas Marcier, Fabiano Krieger and Pedro Guedes, from ARPX Estúdio. The film had a total budget of R$ 10 million (around US$ 2.3 million). It is sponsored by FAC/GDF, Rio Filme and Telecine, with funding from BNDES, BBDTVM and TIM (Investimage), BRDE, FSA and Ancine, and is distributed by Downtown Filmes and Paris Filmes.

Investment: BNDES, BBDTVM e TIM

Sponsors: FAC / GDF, Rio Filme, Telecine

BRDE , FSA , ANCINE

Coproduce by Globo Filmes

Associate Produce by Reprodutora

Produce by Gávea Filmes, Barry Company and Fogo Cerrado

Distributed at Brazil by Downtown Filmes and Paris Filmes

Writers: Claudia Souto, Jessica Candal, Matheus Souza e Michele Frantz

Directed by René Sampaio

Casting: Marcela Altberg

Coach: Sergio Pena

Assistant Director: Hsu Chien

Cinematographer: Gustavo Hadba

Art Director: Tiago Marques

Make-up: Auri Mota

Costume Designer: Valéria Stefani

Key Grip: Edu Mourão

Gaffer: Jubel Magrão

Camera Operator: Lula Cerri

Original Soundtrack: Lucas Marcier, Fabiano Krieger and Pedro Guedes

Sound Mixer: Pedro Sá

Supervising Sound Editor: Miriam Biderman, ABC

Sound Designer: Ricardo Reis, ABC

Re-recording Mixer: Toco Cerqueira

Post Production: Afinal Filmes

Film Editor: Lucas Gonzaga

Post Production Coordinator: Renato Tilhe

Production Management: Barbara Isabella Rocha

Legal Advisor: Roberto Silva

Press Coordinator: Factoria Comunicação

Associated Producer: Fernando Meirelles and Alice Braga

Executive Producers: Bianca De Felippes, Gabriel Bortolini e Tathiana Mourão

Producers: Bianca De Felippes and René Sampaio

SERVICE:

Eduardo & Monica

SUNDAY, MAR 8, 2020, 6:20 PM and 9:50 PM

Silverspot Cinema - Downtown Miami - Theater 13

300 SE 3rd St #100, Miami, FL 33131, USA