Thursday, November 15th. In the ceremony that took place in the imponent Teatro Amazonas, the films receiving the “Grand Jury Award” were the feature “Sounds of Sand”, the documentary “Jaglavak – Prince of the Insects” and the short films “A Incrível História de Coti: Rambo do São Jorge”(The Amazing Story of Coti: St. George’s Rambo) and “Vida Maria” (Life Maria).
Carlos Alberto Ricelli’s national feature “O Signo da Cidade”(The City Sign), was the public’s favorite, who also chose Jorge Bodanzky and Evaldo Mocarzel’s documentary “Navegar Amazônia – Uma Viagem com Jorge Mautner” (Navegar Amazônia – A Journey with Jorge Mautner) as their favorite.
Marcia and Jorge Bodanzky attended the IV International Manaus Cinema Festival, from November 9th to November 16th, presenting the “Navegar Amazônia – Uma Viagem com Jorge Mautner” documentary.
This year, over 150 guests including filmmakers, documentarians, journalists, artists and producers from several different countries, spent the week watching the nominees, films that emphasize environmental preservation.
In its 4th edition, this adventure movies favoring Festival honored actress Glória Pires and filmmaker Cacá Diegues. In order to honor the forest enormous richness, or maybe, the Teatro Amazonas opulence, this Festival is one of Brazil’s rare film events that still preserves that old Hollywood glamour, including a red carpet, bursts of flashes, effusive applause, parties and fancy dinner parties.
Last night was award night and, for our great surprise, “Navegar Amazônia – Uma Viagem com Jorge Mautner” won the public’s choice award in the documentary category. It also got a special mention from the official jury, presided by Richard Brock and formed by John Panikkar (Canadian producer), Hubert Sauper (Austrian director and writer), Judith Haussling (French filmmaker), Roshini Thinakaran (American filmmaker) and Brazilian filmmakers Jorane Castro (Belém) and Túlio Schargel (São Paulo).
We were all very touched by the award, materialized as a beautiful statuette, but we were mostly touched by Richard Brock’s* incentive words. Enthusiastically, he saw the project’s great intent. According to him, this original and vibrant documentary is worth exhibiting on several countries, so as to get support and not suffer from any interruptions. He promised to come back to Brazil in 2008 and intends to see our work continue.
* Richard Brock worked for 35 years in the London BBC Natural History unit, producing successful series, such as “Life on Earth” and “Living Planet”.




