Film

Oscar Niemeyer, a vida é um sopro

In this sweeping documentary, Brazil’s star architect himself explains the story of his greatest construction projects – from public buildings in Brasília through the French Communist Party headquarters to the UFO-like Museum of Modern Art in Niterói. Blueprints whose bold curves and lines made him one of the most important protagonists of Modernist architecture, his work continues to influence construction today. This personal view from Niemeyer, who is also politically active, is complemented with archive footage and commentaries by contemporaries including the writer José Saramago or the musician Chico Buarque.

D: Fabiano Maciel, BR 2007, 85 min, German subtitles

“The landscape around Rio was created by God on a day when he thought he was Oscar Niemeyer.“ (Eduardo Galeano)

Fabiano Maciel (* 1965 in Porto Alegre) is a director, producer and screenplay writer who now specializes in documentaries. His documentary essay on the reaction of a small Brazilian community to the moon landing by Apollo 11 grabbed the limelight at numerous festivals and was also shown at the New York MoMA. “Oscar Niemeyer – A Vida é um Sopro“ is Maciel’s first documentary feature film and he spent ten years working on it.

Focus: Building Utopia - Architecture and Modernism in Brazil