‘Empire of Light’, the new film by director Sam Mendes,
opened the 2022 Rio Festival and celebrities attended.
The opening gala of the Rio Festival moved the red carpet of the Cine Odeon, reopened for the Festival, on Thursday evening, 09/06.
The event, sponsored by Shell and the City of Rio de Janeiro, received on its opening night a film that pays homage to the cinema: “Império da Luz”, a long-awaited film from the award-winning director Sam Mendes, winner of the Oscar. for “American Beauty”.
For cinephiles, it’s a return to Cine Odeon – Luiz Severiano Ribeiro Cultural Center – stage for exhibitions and gala nights in different editions of the event.
In 2021, due to the pandemic, screenings of 71 films were mixed – online and in theaters – and the opening was at the Lagoon.
“It is very symbolic, after such difficult years for the entire audiovisual industry in Brazil, to open the Rio Festival with a film that is a tribute, a story that speaks of what touches us, our love for cinema”, celebrates Ilda Santiago . executive director of programming at Festival do Rio.
In response to the call of promoters and entrepreneurs Liège Monteiro and Luiz Fernando Coutinho, we had the presence of names such as Deborah Bloch, Christiane Torloni, Caco Ciocler, Mel Lisboa, Johnny Massaro, Luisa Arraes, among many lovers of the seventh art.
From there, the guests went to the party held in Assyrius, located in the basement of the Municipal Theater.
THE ART CLASS
The artists said they are very excited about the return of the festival in person.
Luisa Arraes said that, “thanks to the exhibition, Rio de Janeiro can once again breathe culture, as it was in the past”.
Johnny Massaro, who was Luisa’s partner in the film “Transe” (which is part of “Première Brasil: Competitivas – Longas Fiction”) and who is also at the festival with “A Cozinha”, his directorial debut, said that “participating in this way is something unique, for me it’s like debuting in anything”, he declared.
