Maria Ceica Movies
- 2004
Directed by Joel Zito Araujo, Daughters of the Wind, during its production, featured the largest cast of black actors ever seen in a Brazilian film. The story follows the complex relationship between a set of sisters, mothers, and daughters; a family funeral serves as a starting point for a series of flashbacks from the 1960s and '70s. Though general sexism and gender stereotyping are among the causes for the tension between them, the social and political remnants of slavery present an even more insidious conflict to be dealt with. The film includes Milton Goncalves, Ruth de Souza, Lea Garcia, and Maria Ceica. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth de Souza, Milton Goncalves, (more)
- 2004
The physical and emotional toll of Angola's civil war -- a conflict which spanned nearly four decades -- sets the stage for this powerful drama. Vitorio (Oumar Makena Diop) volunteered for the army when he was a 15-year-old seminary student. Twenty years later, he lost his leg in an explosion only a few months before the war finally ground to a halt, and after a long stay in a military hospital, Vitorio was finally given an artificial leg and released. However, after returning home to Luanda, Vitorio learns no one wants to give a thirtysomething veteran with no work experience a job, and he ends up living on the street, where his medals and his leg are soon stolen by ruffians. Vitorio strikes up a friendship with another one of society's outcasts, Maria Barbara (Maria Ceica), a prostitute who has lost her son and hopes to find him by appearing on a television program which daily broadcasts the pleas of family members. Meanwhile, the streets of Luanda are also home to Manu (Milton Coelho), a ten-year-old boy who has become a petty thief as he searches for his father, refusing to believe he could have been killed in the war. And Joana (Patricia Bull) is a schoolteacher whose faith in her nation has been shattered by the war; realizing Manu's intelligence, she attempts to tutor the boy, and having encountered Vitorio, she tries to find a new leg for the tragic veteran. The Hero was the first feature-length drama from filmmaker Zeze Gamboa; the film received its American premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oumar Makena Diop, Milton (Santo) Coelho, (more)
- 2002
Brazilian brothers Renato and Geraldo Santos Pereira direct the period biopic Aleijadinho: Passion, Glory, and Torment. The film is a portrait of the 18th century artist Antonio Francisco Lisboa as played by Mauricio Goncalves. Also known as Aleijadinho, the sculptor, architect, and martyr was originally born the son of a slave. The artist's life is told in flashbacks through a professor's investigation conducted years after his death. Aleijadinho's daughter-in-law (Ruth de Souza) tells stories about his life and career, revealing his struggles with mental illness and disease which ultimately caused his physical disabilities. Even with the disadvantage to his extremities and the trauma involving his wife, Aleijadinho continued to work. Aleijadinho: Passion, Glory, and Torment was screened in the U.S. at the 2002 African Diaspora Film Festival in New York. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mauricio Goncalves, Maria Ceica, (more)
Cape Verde author Germano Almeida wrote the novel (Mr. Napumoceno's Last Will and Testament) that provides the source for this Portuguese-Brazilian-Cape Verdean-French-Belgium co-production. After a wealthy, unmarried businessman dies and the will is read, his nephew learns that he receives nothing. Instead, the estate goes to a servant's daughter. In flashbacks, the young woman then learns about her father as the story recounts his past life and loves. Francisco Manso shot this Portuguese-language film in Cape Verde. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Xavier, Maria Ceica, (more)
