London has its own Rio Olympic Lounge

Rio Lounge 2016If you can’t get to Rio for the Olympics and are stuck back in London, you can still soak up the atmosphere of the games and Brazil at the Rio Olympic Lounge that is located in the Brazilian Embassy, just off Trafalgar Square (14-16 Cockspur Street. SW1Y 5BL).

Entry is free and the lounge is open Monday to Saturday from 10.00 and 19.00 from 6 to 21 August.

The Lounge showcases what lies beyond the city of Rio, and shows the state of Rio’s many other attractions. Basically where the residents of Rio – the Cariocas – head out to to have even more fun (if that is possible) at the weekends. Some even live there and go to Rio for the weekends!

If you are in Rio for the Olympics, you can get more information of what the city and state of Rio has to offer from the Visit Rio and TurisRio stands in Espaço Rio de Janeiro located at the Olympic Boulevard, at Orla Mayor Luiz Paulo Conde in the port area.

 

Mangueira: Champion of Rio’s carnaval 2016

Bethania Mangueira 2016Last was again not least at Rio’s carnaval, and the last of the top 12 Rio samba schools to parade in 2016, the iconic Mangueira of “Verde Rosa” (Green and Pink), a school that was first champion in 1932 and which was last champion in 2002, is champion again with a parade that honoured the great Brazilian singer Maria Bethânia.

Mangueira scored 269.8 points out of a possible 270,  beating Unidos da Tijuca and Portela in to second and third with 269.7 point, Salgueiro, that had lead for most of the countt, came fourth with 269.5, and the champion in 2015, Beija Flor, was fifth with 269.3. Estacio de Sa was relegated to the Grupo de Acesso while Paraíso do Tuiuti was promoted and reutrns to the main parade in 2017 for the first time since 2001.

Mangueira 2016 3The main parades of the Grupo Especial will next take place on the nights of Sunday, 26 February and Monday, 27 February 2017. The schools parading will be:

  • Beija-Flor
  • Grande Rio
  • Imperatriz Leopoldinense
  • Mangueira
  • Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
  • Paraíso do Tuiuti
  • Portela
  • Salgueiro
  • São Clemente
  • União da Ilha
  • Unidos da Tijuca
  • Vila Isabel
Mangueira, champions in 2016

Mangueira, champions in 2016

Tomorrow has arrived in Rio de Janiero

Museu Amanha

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and South America has a major new attraction with the opening of the Museum of Tomorrow (Museu do Amanhã). It is one the most exciting new museums and attractions to open in Rio in time for the 2016 Olympics

Designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Museum of Tomorrow is one of the anchors of the newly developed Porto Maravilha cultural area that also houses the Museum of Rio Art. Dedicated to the sciences, the facility, which opened in December 2015, has a format unlike any other museum of natural history or of science and technology.

The Museum of Tomorrow offers visitors the opportunity to engage in personal-choice experiences, have a glimpse of future possibilities and envision how they will live and shape the planet in the next fifty years. The space explores variations on tomorrows in the fields of matter, life and thought and debates questions like climate change, population growth and longevity, global integration, the world’s increased diversity of material goods and its decreased natural diversity. It is a museum where people can follow the trails of their imagination and make their own choices about the future more conscientiously and ethically.

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race heads for Rio de Janeiro

IMG_5911On Sunday, 30 August 12 teams paraded along the River Thames in London and then set sail on the start of their round the world voyage in the Clipper Round the World race.

The first leg of the race takes the yachts from London to Rio de Janeiro. The race covers 16 cities across six continents, and the twelve crews will race into some of the most iconic ports around the globe, including Rio.

In Rio the yachts will berth at the Marina da Gloria that will host the Olympic and Paralympic yachting activities in 2016.

IMG_5905

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Rio Film Festival: The Brazilian class of 2015

Festival datesThe selection for Festival do Rio’s Première Brasil in 2015 consists of 41 features and 19 shorts. Première Brasil includes 13 feature films, seven feature length documentaries and ten shorts in the main competition, with six features and four shorts screening in competition in New Trends.

A further two features and two documentary features will screen hors concours during Rio’s international film festival, while other Brazilian productions will screen in special festival sidebars such as Panorama, Expectations, Midnight Movies, Frontiers, Unique Itineraries and Cinema Treasures.

As in 2014 films in Première Brasil will have their gala screenings at the Cinépolis Lagoon (which is located at the end of the Olympic rowing course), with other public screenings at the Odeon – Centro Cultural Luiz Severiano Ribeiro. There will also be debates with the filmmakers, cast and crew as part of Cine Encontro.

The festival takes place 1 to 14 October 2015.

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PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | FICTION | COMPETITION

1.  Aspirantes (Hopefuls), de Ives Rosenfeld, 75 min (RJ)

2.  A Floresta Que se Move (The Moving Forest), de Vinícius Coimbra, 99 min (RJ)

3.  Beatriz (Beatriz), de Alberto Graça, 99 min (RJ) WP

4.  Boi Neon (Bull Down), de Gabriel Mascaro, 101 min (PE)

5.  Califórnia (California), de Marina Person, 85 min (SP) WP

6.  Campo Grande (Campo Grande), de Sandra Kogut, 109 min (RJ)

7.  Introdução à Música do Sangue (Introduction to the Music of Blood), de Luiz Carlos Lacerda, 95 min, (RJ)

8.  Mate-me Por Favor (Kill Me Please), de Anita Rocha da Silveira, 101 min (RJ)

9.  Mundo Cão (In Dog’s Words), de Marcos Jorge, 100 min (SP) WP

10. Nise – Coração da Loucura (Nise – The Heart of Madness), de Roberto Berliner, 109 min (RJ) WP

11. Órfãos do Eldorado (Orphans of Eldorado), de Guilherme Coelho, 96 min (RJ)

12. Quase Memória (Oblivious Memory), de Ruy Guerra, 95 min (RJ) WP

13. Tudo que Aprendemos Juntos (The Violin Teacher), de Sérgio Machado, 100 min (SP)


PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | DOCUMENTARIES | COMPETITION

1.  Betinho – A Esperança Equilibrista (Betinho – Hope on the Line), de Victor Lopes, 90 min (RJ) WP

2.  Cordilheiras no Mar: A Fúria do Fogo Bárbaro (Ridges in the Sea: The Fury of the Wild Fire), de Geneton Moraes Neto, 98 min (RJ)

3.  Crônica da Demolição (Chronicle of the Demolition), de Eduardo Ades, 89 min (RJ) WP

4.  Futuro Junho (Future June), de Maria Augusta Ramos, 100 min (RJ) WP

5.  Marias (Marias), de Joana Mariani, 73 min (SP) WP

6.  Mario Wallace Simonsen, Entre a Memória e a História (Mario Wallace Simonsen, Between Memory and History), de Ricardo Pinto e Silva, 110 min (SP) WP

7.  Olmo e a Gaivota (Olmo and The Seagull), de Petra Costa e Lea Glob, 82 min (SP)


PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | NEW TRENDS | FEATURES

1.  A Morte de J.P. Cuenca (The Death of J.P.Cuenca), de João Paulo Cuenca, 90 min (RJ) WP

2.  A Seita (The Sect), de André Antônio, 70 min (PE) WP

3.  Beira-Mar (Seashore), de Filipe Matzembacher & Marcio Reolon, 83 min (RS)

4.  Clarisse ou alguma coisa sobre nós dois (Clarisse or something about us), de Petrus Cariry, 84 min (CE) WP

5.  Jonas (Jonah), de Lô Politi, 90 min (SP) WP

6.  Ralé (Ralé – The Lower Depths), de Helena Ignez, 73 min (SP) WP


PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | HORS CONCOURS | FICTION

1.  Através da Sombra (The other side of the Win), de Walter Lima Jr., 100 min (RJ) WP

2.  Em Três Atos (In Three Acts), de Lúcia Murat, 76 min (RJ)


PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | HORS CONCOURS | DOCUMENTARIES

1.  82 Minutos (82 Minutes), de Nelson Hoineff, 125 min (RJ) WP

2.  Andre Midani – do Vinil ao Download (A Brief History of Brazilian Music – Andre Midani, from Vinyl to Download), de Andrucha Waddington e Mini Kerti, 120 min (RJ)


RIO 450 YEARS

Rio 450

1.  O Rio por Eles (Rio by Them), de Ernesto Rodrigues, 90 min (RJ) WP

2.  São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, a Formação de uma Cidade (São Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Creating a City), de Juliana de Carvalho, 90 min (RJ) WP

3.  O Porto do Rio, de Pedro Évora, Luciana Bezerra, 85 min (SP) WP


PANORAMA

1.  No Retrovisor [título provisório] (Looking at the Rear View Mirror), de João Araujo, 101 min (RJ) WP

2.  Brasil vs Brasil (Brasil vs Brasil), de Marcos Prado, 52 min (RJ) WP


EXPECTATIONS

1.  Ninguém Ama Ninguém… Por Mais de Dois Anos (No One Loves Anyone… For More Than Two Years), de Clovis Mello, 87 min (SP) WP

2.  Zoom (Zoom), de Pedro Morelli, 97 min (SP)

3.  Quanto Tempo o Tempo Tem (How Much Time Time Has), de Adriana L. Dutra, 80 min (RJ)


FRONTIERS

1.  Levante! (Uprising!), de Susanna Lira e Barney Lankester-owen, 52 min (RJ)


MIDNIGHT MOVIES

1.  As Fábulas Negras (The Black Fables), de Rodrigo Aragão, Joel Caetano, Petter Baiestorf e José Mojica Marins, 93 min (ES)


TREASURES

1.  Menino de Engenho, de Walter Lima Jr, 110 min – 1965


Redentor 2013PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | SHORTS | COMPETITION

1.  Até a China (Sheeliton), de Marão, 15 min (RJ) DOC

2.  Cumieira (The Top Floor), de Diego Benevides, 13 min (PB) DOC

3.  Fantasia de Papel (Photonovels), de Tetê Mattos, 15 min (RJ) DOC

4.  Guida (Guida), de Rosana Urbes, 12 min (SP) FIC

5.  Mar de Fogo (Sea of Fire), de Joel Pizzini, 8 min (RJ) DOC

6.  Marrocos (Morocco), de Andrea Nero e Iajima Silena, 8 min (SP) DOC

7.  Olho-Urubu (Urubu-Eye), de André Guerreiro Lopes, 13 min (SP) FIC

8.  Pele de Pássaro (Bird Skin), de Clara Peltier, 15 min (RJ) DOC

9.  Serra do Caxambu (Serra do Caxambu), de Marcio Brito Neto, 15 min (RJ) DOC

10. Som Guia (Sound Guide), de Felipe Rocha, 15 min (RJ) FIC


PREMIÈRE BRASIL 2015 | NEW TRENDS | SHORTS

1.  Escape From My Eyes (Escape From My Eyes), de Felipe Bragança, 30 min (RJ) DOC

2.  Imóvel (Still), de Isaac Pipano, 20 min (RJ) FIC

3.  Outubro Acabou (October is Over), de Karen Akerman, Miguel Seabra Lopes, 24 min (RJ) FIC

4.  Tarântula (Tarantula), de Aly Muritiba, Marja Calafange, 20 min (PR) FIC


RIO 450 YEARS – SHORTS

1.  A Pedra Que Samba (A Rock That Sambas), de Camila Agustini e Roman Lechapelier, 12 min (RJ) DOC

2.  Projeto Beirute (Beirut), de Anna Azevedo, 15 min (RJ) DOC

3.  Solte os Bichos de Uma Vez! (Heads Will Roll!), de Marcelo Goulart, 11 min (RJ) DOC


UNIQUE ITINERARIES- SHORTS

1.  Lygia Clark em Nova York (Lygia Clark in New York), de Daniela Thomas, 26 min (RJ) DOC

2.  Xampy (Xampy), de Paulo Menezes e Daniel Wiermant, 25 min (SP) DOC

Armazao

Brazilian Grand Prix 2016

InterlagosFIA, the governing body for Formula 1, has announced the provisional calendar for 2016 that will see a record 21 races. The Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo is scheduled for Sunday, 13 November 2016 and will again be the penultimate race of the season. In 2015 the race is scheduled for 15 November.

The 2016 season – Olympic and Paralympic year – will start on 3 April in Australia and end in Abu Dhabi on 27 November.

Rio Olympic Torch Relay

Rio Olympic Torch 1Movement, innovation and Brazilian flavour is the inspiration behind the design of the Rio 2016 Olympic torch, which was unveiled on 3 July 2015. Its design aims to reflect the meeting of the Olympic flame with the human warmth of the Brazilian people.

The torch relay convoy is expected to visit 500 Brazilian cities and towns – about 300 of which will host the relay itself while a further 200 will cheer the convoy as it passes by with the flame on display. They include the capitals of all 26 Brazilian states and Brasília. The route has been designed to reach the highest number of people as possible, and Rio 2016 estimates that the torch relay will reach 90 per cent of the Brazilian population.

Rio Olympic Torch 3The journey will begin in May 2016 and will last between 90 and 100 days. There will be about 12,000 torchbearers, each one carrying their torch about 200 meters, then passing the flame – which will have been lit in Greece – on to the next. The torch will travel 20,000 km by road and another 10,000 miles by air over the North and Midwest parts of the country, between the cities of Teresina and Campo Grande, without the flame ever going out.

The torch’s texture has triangles running the length of its body, alluding to the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, and the floating effect of its different segments refers to the efforts of the athletes. One of its main innovations is the movement of these segments, which open up and expand vertically when the Olympic flame is passed from one torchbearer to another. This is known as “the kiss of the torches”.
Upon expanding, the segments reveal the elements that add the Brazilian flavour – diversity, energy and nature – represented by the sea, mountains, sky and sun, and the colours of the Brazilian flag.

Rio Olympic Torch 2 copyCrafted from recycled aluminium and resin with a satin finish, the torch weighs between 1kg and 1.5kg and stands 63.5cm high when closed and 69cm when opened.

The torch relay will start in Brasília and has a definite finish date: 5 August 2016, the day of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games opening ceremony at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio.

The 83 cities that will be the final destination of the Olympic flame at the end of each day are:

1 – Brasília
2 – Anápolis
3 – Goiânia
4 – Caldas Novas
5 – Uberlândia
6 – Patos de Minas
7 – Montes Claros
8 – Curvelo
9 – Governador Valadares
10 – Itabira
11 – Belo Horizonte
12 – Juiz de Fora
13 – Cachoeiro de Itapemirim
14 – Vitória
15 – São Mateus
16 – Porto Seguro
17 – Vitória da Conquista
18 – Ilhéus
19 – Valença
20 – Salvador
21 – Senhor do Bonfim
22 – Petrolina
23 – Paulo Afonso
24 – Aracaju
25 – Maceió
26 – Caruaru
27 – Recife
28 – Campina Grande
29 – João Pessoa
30 – Natal
31 – Mossoró
32 – Fortaleza
33 – Sobral
34 – Parnaíba
35 – Teresina
36 – Imperatriz
37 – Palmas
38 – São Luís
39 – Belém
40 – Macapá
41 – Santarém
42 – Boa Vista
43 – Manaus
44 – Rio Branco
45 – Porto Velho
46 – Cuiabá
47 – Campo Grande
48 – Dourados
49 – Presidente Prudente
50 – Londrina
51 – Cascavel
52 – Foz do Iguaçu
53 – Pato Branco
54 – Passo Fundo
55 – Santa Maria
56 – Pelotas
57 – Porto Alegre
58 – Caxias do Sul
59 – Criciúma
60 – Florianopólis
61 – Blumenau
62 – Joinville
63 – Curitiba
64 – Ponta Grossa
65 – Itapetininga
66 – Bauru
67 – Ribeirão Preto
68 – Franca
69 – Campinas
70 – Osasco
71 – São Bernado
72 – São Paulo
73 – Santos
74 – São José dos Campos
75 – Angra dos Reis
76 – Volta Redonda
77 – Petrópolis
78 – Nova Friburgo
79 – Macaé
80 – Cabo Frio
81 – Niterói
82 – Nova Iguaçu
83 – Rio de Janeiro