All change at the Fasano Hotel in Ipanema in Rio, at least as far as restaurants go. Out goes Fasano al Mare, which never had much of a fan base, and in comes a branch of the Fasano’s Gero offering sophisticated, contemporary Italian cuisine.
The standalone Gero, in Aníbal de Mendonça, now becomes a more relaxed branch of Panini Gero, offering sandwiches, pastas and pizzas. Gero Barra, remains closed for now, but Gero Trattoria in Shopping Leblon has reopened as has the hotel’s own beach kiosk on Ipanema, Marea.
The Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau (RCVB) has a new Executive Director, Roberta Werner.
Roberta is experienced in working with international events as well as the hospitality industry having worked in Brazil for Windsor, Caesar Park Ipanema, Sofitel Rio, Grand Hyatt and, most recently, Fasano. At the RCVB she replaces Philipe Campello who now heads up TurisRio, the State of Rio Tourist Board.
Fro more information about the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau CLICK HERE
Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ “Bacurau”, that premiered in Cannes in 2019, won best fiction film, direction, original screenplay, special effects and actor (Silverio Pereira) at the 2020 Grande Premio do Cinema Brasileiro. “A vida invisível” (“The Invisible Life”) by Karim Ainouz was another multiple winner picking up the awards for adapted screenplay, art direction, costumes, cinematography and supporting actress (Fernanda Montenegro).
“Cine Holliúdy 2 – A chibata sideral”, by Halder Gomes, was chosen best comedy, and also won supporting actor for Chico Diaz, while best documentary went to Marcelo Gomes’ “I’m Saving Myself For When the Carnival Arrives” (“Estou me guardando para quando o carnaval chegar”). Best Animated Feature was “Tito e os Pássaros” by Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar and André Catoto and Best Children’s Feature Film was Daniel Rezende’s “Turma da Mônica – Laços”.
Sharing the actor prize with Silverio Pereira (“Bacurau”) was Fabrício Boliveira for his performance in“Simonal”, a film that also won the first time directing award for Leonardo Domingues as well as sound and soundtrack awards. Best actress went to Andrea Beltrão for “Hebe Camargo – The Star of Brazil”.
The Audience award went to Pedro Amorim’s “Eu sou mais eu” and best foreign film was Oscar winner “Parasite” (South Korea) by Bong-Joon-Ho.
Full list of winners at the 2020 Grande Premio do Cinema Brasileiro
Fiction Feature Film: “Bacurau”
Direction: Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, “Bacurau”
Direction – First Feature: Leonardo Domingues, “Simonal”
Actress: Andrea Beltrão, “Hebe Camargo – The Star of Brazil”
Actor: Silverio Pereira, “Bacurau”, and Fabrício Boliveira, “Simonal”
Supporting Actress: Fernanda Montenegro, “The Invisible Life” (“A vida invisível”)
Michelin has announced the restaurants in Rio and São Paulo to be awarded the prestigious Michelin Star for 2020. With two stars are Oro and Oteque in Rio de Janeiro and D.O.M. and Ryo Gastronomia in São Paulo. One Star was awarded to Cipriani, Lasai and Mee in Rio; and Evvai, Huto, Jun Sakamoto, Kan Suke, Kinoshita, Maní and Picchi in São Paulo.
In “Michelin 2020 Bib Gourmand,” the category that recognises more informal restaurants with good quality and good value cooking, six restaurants in Rio de Janeiro are listed in the 2020 Michelin Guide (Artigiano, Didier, Miam Miam, Lilia, Pici Trattoria, and Maria e o Boi) and 33 in São Paulo (AE! Cozinha, Ama.zo, Arturito, Baianeira, Balaio IMS, Banzeiro, Barú Marisquería, Le Bife, Bio, Bistrot de Paris, Brasserie Victória, Casa do Porco, Casa Santo Antônio, Cepa, Charco, Corrutela, Ecully – Perdizes, Fitó, Kith 2º Andar, Komah, Manioca, Mimo, Mocotó, Nit, Petí Gastronomia, Petí Americana, Piccolo, Più, Più Iguatemi, Tanit, TonTon, Tordesilhas, and Zena Caffè).
According to Michelin 85%, as of 20 September 2020 of Michelin Starred restaurants worldwide at 35 destinations are currently open for dining either inside or outside. In Brazil 72% of the Michelin Starred restaurants are now open, but in the US just 14% of Starred restaurants are welcoming guests again. In Europe, Belgium has 95% of its Michelin Starred restaurants back open; in Spain and Portugal, the percentages have risen to 86% and 93% respectively; while the UK it is at 73%.
The documentary “Narciso em Férias” (“Narcissus off Duty”) will premiere out of competition on 7 September during the 77th Venice Film Festival. The documentary looks at the great Brazilian sing songwriter, Caetano Veloso’s experience during the military coup in Brazil in 1968 which resulted in him being imprisoned for 54 days.
“Narcissus Off Duty,” paints an intimate portrait of Caetano’s incarceration as he recalls painful memories and performs songs that marked his imprisonment. He also presents new information about why he was detained, exposing the regime’s view of him and shedding light on the arbitrary brutality of the time.
On 13 December 1968, the Brazilian military dictatorship passed Institutional Act Number Five (AI-5), and it marked the beginning of the regime’s most repressive and violent phase. Two weeks later Caetano was arrested. He was taken from his home in São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, where he was shut in solitary confinement for one week and ultimately imprisoned for 54 days. It was the most difficult experience of his life.
Written and directed by Renato Terra (“A Night in 67”) and Ricardo Calil (“Cine Marrocos”), “Narcissus Off Duty,” is produced by Uns Produções (Paula Lavigne) and co-produced by Walter Salles and João Moreira Salles’s VideoFilmes.
Some positive gastronomic for Rio de Janeiro with the opening in Ipanema on 22 July of Gajos d’Ouro.
The reason for the excitement is that many of the people involved in the project (front of house and in the kitchen) are well known for their time at Antiquarius, considered for decades to be Rio’s top Portuguese restaurant – and generally one of the city’s best – until it closed its doors two years ago.
So as well as familiar faces, diners will also find at Rua Prudente de Moraes, 1008 some familiar and favourite dishes on the menu. For the moment Gajos d’Ouro can handle 30 guests in the main room and 20 in the garden-patio.
Sadly it is looking increasingly likely that Rio’s carnival in 2021 will be badly disrupted by the impact of Covid-19, including the famous parade of the top samba schools – scheduled for 14 and 15 February – as preparations require people to work in confined spaces and close proximity.
It is also seen as impossible to have the normal crowd of 75,000 plus in place unless a vaccine for Covid-19 is found. The same for the schools to parade as each would have over 3,000 people dancing and performing in close proximity, a total of over 50,000 performers over the two nights.
Until an official decision is taken by LIESA (League of Samba Schools), probably in September 2020, the schools will continued their preparations for carnival 2021, that might even get pushed back to later in 2021.
Viradouro, the current champions, hope that if the carnival parades do go ahead in 2021, it can defend its title with a theme that will focus on the carnival and Rio of 1919, the first carnival after the First World War and the “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918 that killed so many people in Brazil. The samba is “Não há tristeza que possa suportar tanta alegria” (“There is No Sadness That Can Endure So Much Joy”).
O Globo newspaper has polled 70 experts to come up with the top 70 games played in Rio’s iconic Maracanã Stadium since it first opened 70 years ago in June 1950 prior to the World Cup.The panel’s top ten most memorable and important games were:
1º — Brazil 1 x 2 Uruguay
World Cup Final, 16 July 1950
2º — Vasco 1 x 2 Santos
Campeonato Brasileiro, 31 August 1969 (Pelé’s 1,000th goal)
The three most viewed art shows in the world in 2019, by the number of visitors a day, were all organised by the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil.
Occupying the first and second spots in the The Art Newspaper ranking was the free travelling exhibition that offered a behind-the-scenes look at DreamWorks. Co-organised by the animation studio and Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image, 11,380 visitors a day went to it at the CCBB Rio de Janeiro, while a further 9,277 daily saw it at the CCBB Belo Horizonte.
In third was Ai Weiwei’s travelling survey in Brazil— the highest-ranking show by a single artist in the list. More than 1.1 million people in total saw the exhibition in Brazil that started in São Paulo with stops in Belo Horizonte and Curitiba before arriving at the CCBB Rio de Janeiro, where it was seen by 9,172 visitors a day (around 600,000 in total).
The CCBB last topped the Art Newspaper survey in 2016 with another trio of shows, including one on Post-Impressionist masterpieces (9,700 visitors a day). The CCBB, which hosts free exhibitions at its four locations in Brazil, had nearly 5.6 million visitors in 2019—a 28% increase on 2018 and a 36% increase on 2017. Sadly numbers will not be the same in 2020.
Mangueira and Salgueiro are the two most successful samba schools in Rio over the last six years based on the official results. Based on those results of the last six carnivals (2015-2020), the League of Samba Schools (LIESA) ranks the top samba schools in Rio de Janeiro as:
Mangueira (65 points)
Salgueiro (65)
Portela (64)
Beija-Flor (64)
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (49)
Grande Rio (41)
Unidos da Tijuca (35)
Viradouro (35)
Vila Isabel (21)
Imperatriz Leopoldinense (19)
Paraíso do Tuiuti (18)
União da Ilha do Governador (7)
[Schools score 20 points for a win, 15 for 2nd, 12 for 3rd, 10 for 4th, 8 for 5th, 6 for 6th, 4 for 7th, 3 for 8th, 2 for 9th and 1 for 10th]
31 schools have paraded in the Grupo Especial since 1985.
All change at the Fasano Hotel in Ipanema in Rio, at least as far as restaurants go. Out goes Fasano al Mare, which never had much of a fan base, and in comes a branch of the Fasano’s Gero offering sophisticated, contemporary Italian cuisine.
Rio the Guide 