Gonzaga’s most famous song is “Asa Branca”, an absolute Brazilian classic that has been covered by many Brazilian singers, but none better or more authentic than by the man himself. Even David Byrne has recorded an English language version.

From the city of Recife in northeast of Brazil, Gonzaga was known as the “king of baião”, and was a master of the accordion.

Unidos da Tijuca scored 299.9 points from the official carnival jury with Salgueiro in second with 299.7, and Vila Isabel in third with 299.5. Uniao da Ilha, that had London as its theme, came eighth.

Unidos da Tijuca, under carnavlesco Paulo Barros, also won the title in 2010, but previous to that its only other title had been way back in 1936.

And the relegated schools this year, which won’t be in the top group in 2013, are Porto de Pedra and Renascer de Jacarepaguá.

Chris is hoping to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding Rio’s carnival, and started by reporting that Brahma’s brewery’s international muse for 2012 is Jennifer Lopez (www.iguanas.co.uk/news/jlo-heads-rio-carnival).

F&ME gets DVD box set; plans Streetkids United follow-up

10 February, 2012 | By Wendy Mitchell

EXCLUSIVE: HB Films to launch 10-film box set of international co-productions; F&ME readies two shoots in Brazil.

London-based Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) is working with UK distributor HB Films to launch a 10-film box set of F&ME’s international co-productions, Cinema Without Frontiers. The titles include Before The Rain, Eleven Men Out and Quest For A Heart.

This comes as Mike Downey and Sam Taylor’s F&ME has a packed slate, including new football documentary follow-up Streetkids United II, being made to coincide with the 2014 Street Child World Cup in Rio. A Brazilian filmmaker will direct. (Tim Pritchard had directed the 2011 documentary, which screened in Berlin last year.) Downey noted: “The street child poverty issue is massive in Brazil, and to get right to the heart of the issue we want a director to become fully entrenched and deeply involved in the lives of the street child community in Rio.”

Taylor added: “The 2014 event will bring teams of street children from 20 countries to compete for the Street Child World Cup and to make their voices heard. As with the first Streetkids United film in Berlin – our goal is to tell the story of the children and the event – and through this to draw attention to the terrible plight of street children across the globe.”

Also in Brazil, F&ME is kicking off the shoot for Julien Temple’s music documentary Children Of The Revolution in April. Writer and co-producer Chris Pickard (Critical Divide) said: “The film will reflect on the social, political, financial, cultural and technical revolutions that have taken place in 1970s to today, a time when the city and Brazil stand on the threshold of hosting two of the world’s largest and most prestigious high profile events, the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and The Olympic Games in 2016.”

Shooting now for the company are Peter Greenaway’s Goltzius And The Pelican Company (which will post at Molinare in London), portmanteau film Zagreb Stories 2-Love, and Estonian Kadri Kousaar’s English-language European Psycho, starring UK actor Lee Ingleby.

Set to shoot in the autumn is UK-Dutch-Belgian co-production N.N., to be directed by Ineke Smits and produced by veteran Els Vandervorst. The story is about a pathologist’s search for his past.

Now in post is Andrzej Jakimowski’s Imagine (aka Blind Watching) starring Edward Hogg and Alexandra Maria Lara. Sales company discussions are underway.

Now just finished is child prostitution story Lilet Never Happened directed by Jacco Groen.

www.screendaily.com/news/uk-ireland/fme-gets-dvd-box-set-plans-streetkids-united-follow-up/5037757.article

The winning wine is produced for TAM by Château Canon, part of the Chanel group, from pure Merlot grapes passing through fine oak barrels. The wine offers an intense and alluring display of aromas of ripe dark fruit, mixed with coffee, chocolate and delicate floral touches. Soft, flavourful, concentrated and complex, it is a spectacular example of the degree of sophistication that Bordeaux can reach.

The Clos Canon is just one of the wines to feature on TAM’s award winning First Class 2011 cellar. Others included the Champagne, Drappier La Grande Sendrée; the white wines, Dr. Bürklin-Wolff Pechstein Grand Cru (Pfalz, Germany), and Denis Dubourdieu Clos Floridene Blanc (Bordeaux, France); and two other reds, Señorio San Vicente (Rioja, Spain), and Altas Quintas (Alentejo Portugal).

“Every year TAM carefully selects the wines it is to serve on board, looking to offer the best quality wines in all classes that compliment the dishes offered from our menus. Winning these important international awards at Business Traveller’s “Cellars in the Sky”, demonstrates that we are on the right track, and it is also an inspiration for us to improve even more the inflight experience that we offer to our customers, “says Manoela Amaro, director of TAM Marketing.

Since 2001, Arthur Azevedo, one of the most respected wine consultants in Brazil and executive director of the Brazilian Association of Sommeliers of Sao Paulo, has been responsible for selecting the wines to be served on board TAM’s flights. Azevedo carefully searches for and sources wines of the highest quality, and this has earned him and TAM major international awards, including at Global Traveler’s “Wines on the Wing” awards in 2010 and 2011, and in “Cellars in the Sky” in 2009, when TAM was chosen to serve the best white wine in First Class.

Business Traveller has organized the “Cellars in the Sky” awards since 1985. For eight months, a panel of five experts have blind tasted over 250 wines served in the First Class and Business Class of the world’s leading airlines.

Wanderlust Magazine was recognised by LATA for its outstanding coverage of Latin America, and in helping to promote and develop travel and tourism throughout the region.

The other award was presented to A South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby, a three part television series that was produced by Fresh One and broadcast by the BBC. LATA recognised the excellence of the series, and its impact in promoting the understanding of South America in the United Kingdom.

The awards were presented on the House of Lords’ Terrace by Baroness Hooper, CMG, chair of the All Party Group, and Edward Paine, the LATA chairman.

Jeremy Brown, MP, the Minister of State responsible for Central and South America, and the Olympics, addressed the gathering.

Guests included members of the Lords and Commons, Ambassadors and high-ranking diplomats from the Latin American embassies in London, and members of LATA and the LATA Foundation, and their guests.

The event promotes relationships between Britain and Latin America through travel and tourism. It also provides the opportunity for the LATA membership to speak to MPs and members of the House of Lords about Latin America, and shows the Latin American ambassadors and embassies in London that Britain takes travel and tourism seriously as an industry.

Baroness Hooper, chairs the All-Party Parliamentary British-Latin America Group and, alongside LATA chairman Ed Paine, will be presenting a couple of very special media awards on the night.

Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State responsible for Central/South America and the Caribbean, as well human rights, consular, migration, drugs and international crime, public diplomacy and the Olympics, will address the reception.

2012 is a special year in that while London is hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the next host will be Latin America, in the shape of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Brazil also hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

This is also the place to go for special leather bound editions and a digital download version of the book.

The Kindle version of the book is available through Amazon at: http://amzn.to/biggskindle

Odd Man Out: The Last Straw can also be ordered through most normal book stores or web sites.

Health permitting, this will be Ronnie’s first ever UK press conference since the Great Train Robbery on 8 August 1963. It is also a very rare public appearance by Ron since his release from prison in August 2009.

The new book totally updates his 1994 autobiography and covers his early life of crime, the Great Train Robbery, his escape from Wandsworth, life on the run in Australia and Brazil, and his kidnapping. Totally new chapters cover the last 17 eventful years of Ron’s life including his strokes, illness, attempted suicide, return to the UK after 13,068 days on the run, his time in prison at Belmarsh and Norwich, his blocked parole, his release on compassionate grounds, and life since his release.

Ronnie Biggs is one of those very few people, whose life really does deserve an autobiography.

THE EVENT

What: Press conference by Ronnie Biggs for the launch of his autobiography, “Odd Man Out: The Last Straw”.

Who: Ronnie Biggs, Michael Biggs, Christopher Pickard, and friends.

When: 11.00 on Thursday, 17 November 2011

Where: Biscuit Tin – Shoreditch House (13 Bethnal Green Road, London E16 AW)

RSVP: biggs@criticaldivide.com

Note: For radio and TV that cannot attend the launch, Michael Biggs and Chris Pickard will be available for interviews around the time of the launch and through the end of the year.

THE BOOK: RONNIE BIGGS | ODD MAN OUT | THE LAST STRAW

Publication: 17 November 2011

Extent: 464 pages (32 pages of photos)

Format: Hardback

Price: £19.99

ISBN: 978-0-9570398-2-7

Market: Autobiography, true crime, celebrity, history.

Rights: World

Authors: Ronald Biggs (with Christopher Pickard)

Publisher: Mpress (Media) Ltd (biggsbooks@mpressltd.com)

Based on a short story by Guimarães Rosa, A hora e a vez de Augusto Matraga is the story of Augusto Matraga, a failed and violent farmer who considers himself to be above the law in the scrublands of Minas Gerais. With all his problems, he falls prey to an ambush and is left for dead. Reborn, Matraga seeks redemption through faith and hard work. Years later, he comes across a powerful landlord, and his gang. This new friendship sets off a sequence of events that trigger within Matraga a duel between his now saintly tendencies and his previous warrior instincts, until the hour comes for him to choose.

In total the jury awarded prizes to seven of the nine films in the feature fiction section of Première Brasil. Multiple prize winners included Eduardo Nunes’s Sudoeste, which was awarded a special jury prize and the Redentor for cinematography. It was also chosen by the FIPRESCI jury as the best Latin American film to screen in the festival.

The prestigious best director Redentor was awarded to Karim Aïnouz for O abismo prateado. It is Aïnouz’s third win in the category having won previously for Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque to Amo in 2009 (with Marcelo Gomes) and O Céu de Suely in 2006. Actor João Miguel is another three-time winner, having won at the festival previously for his performances in Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus in 2005 and Estõmago in 2007.

Popular actress and model, Camila Pitanga, who is more used to winning awards for her TV performances in shows like Paraíso Tropical, received the Redentor trophy for best actress for her performance in Eu receberia as piores notícias de seus lindos lábios. Best supporting actor went to veteran and much loved actor, José Wilker, who back in 1986 won the best actor prize in Gramado for O Homen da Capa Preta, while the festival’s best supporting actress prize went to Marisa Luísa Mendonça for her performance in Tadeu Jungle’s Amanhã nunca mais.

For best documentary, the official jury and festival audiences agreed on Eduardo Coutinho’s As Canções (Songs), a film that follows the simple premise of getting people to sing the songs that have influenced their lives and explain why.

It is Coutinho’s first Redentor but the veteran director had won the FIPRESCI prize in Berlin back in 1985 for Cabra Marcado Para Morrer, and also won the best documentary prize in Gramado in 2002 for Edificio Master.

In 2011 Première Brasil’s main competitive section included nine feature films, nine feature length documentaries and 17 shorts. It is a rare occurrence for the jury and audience to agree on the best film in both the fiction and documentary categories.

The full lists of Redentor Trophy winners for Festival do Rio for 2011 is:

Best fiction: A hora e a vez de Augusto Matraga - Vinícius Coimbra

Special jury prize (fiction): Sudoeste - Eduardo Nunes

Honorary jury mention (fiction): Mãe e filha - Petrus Cariry

Best documentary: As Canções - Eduardo Coutinho

Special jury prize (documentary): Olhe pra mim de novo - Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla

Best short: Qual Queijo Você Quer?  – Cínti Domit Bittar

Best director: Karim Aïnouz (O abismo prateado)

Best actor: João Miguel (A hora e a vez de Augusto Matraga)

Best actress: Camila Pitanga (Eu receberia as piores notícias de seus lindos lábios)

Best supporting actor: José Wilker (A hora e a vez de Augusto Matraga)

Best supporting actress: Marisa Luísa Mendonça (Amanhã nunca mais)

Special jury prize (acting): Chico Anísio (A hora e a vez de Augusto Matraga)

Best screenplay: Odilon Rocha (A novela das oito)

Best cinematography: Mauro Pinheiro Jr (Sudoeste) and Petrus Cariry (Mãe e filha)

Best editing: Jordana Berg (Marcelo Yuka no caminho das setas)

The popular festival audience prizes for 2011 were awarded to:

Best fiction: A hora e a vez de Augusto Matraga - Vinícius Coimbra

Best documentary: As Canções - Eduardo Coutinho

Best short: Passageiro – Bruno Melo

In addition to the awards for the films and shorts that screened in the competitive section of Première Brasil, Festival do Rio also gave an award for the best film to screen in the Première Brasil: New Trends section. The jury chose Roberta Marques’ Rânia. Marques’ first feature, the director had previously had a short in competition in the festival in 2005.

The FIPRESCI jury (International Federation of Film Critics) awarded its prize for the best Latin American film at the festival to Brazilian director Eduardo Nunes’ Sudoeste, a labour of love ten years in the making.