Best Film at the Brasilia Online Festival

This weekend, in Brasilia, Kassandra received the top prize of Online Film Festival: Best Picture by the Official Jury! In addition, our director Ulisses da Motta Costa, present at the event, also received the award for Best Director - the second he won for Kassandra.

The award ceremony took place on November 14 in the Auditorium of the University Center of Brasilia (UniCEUB). Kassandra was nominated for eight categories.

Thus, our short film arrives at seven awards mark! Remember here:

Gramado Film Festival (Mostra Gaucha):

• Best Cinematography

Santo Angelo Film Festival:

• Best Director 

CineSerra Film Festival:

• Best Cinematography 
• Best Art Direction
• Best Music

Brasilia Online Film Festival:

• Best Film
• Best Director

Three Awards at CineSerra Film Festival

From left to right: winners Pablo Chasseraux, Chico Pereira and Ana Gusson

Kassandra did well at the awards of the second edition of CineSerra Film Festival. The film received three awards at last Sunday, October 26, at SESC Theatre in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. 

We won the following categories:

• Best Cinematography for Pablo Chasseraux: This is his second award for the black-and-white photography in the movie.
• Best Art Direction for Ana Gusson: Kassandra is only hes second short at the function. The first, the beautiful Princess and the Pea, can be see here.
• Best Music Score for Chico Pereira: He who works with director Ulisses Costa da Motta from the first short of both, O Gritador (2006). This is the first award received by the composer for his work with movies.

Eight nominations at Brasilia Online Film Festival

Kassandra is the film with most nominations at the 1st Brasilia Online Film Festival. Last week were released the finalists in twelve categories and our film was nominated to eight of them. Know more here (in portuguese).

Previously, Kassandra had received eleven pre-nominations in the first phase of the festival. The selection committee made a new sorting and decreases to just five the number of nominees for each award.

One of the nominations was obtained via Internet voting. We got the second place with 562 votes in the Popular Jury category.

The awards will be held in Brasilia on 15 November.

Below, all categories in which Kassandra competes:

• Best Picture
• Best Film by the Popular Jury
• Best Director (Ulisses Costa da Motta)
• Best Actress (Renata Stein)
• Best Cinematography (Pablo Chasseraux)
• Best Sound (Roberto Coutinho and Leandro Lefa)
• Best Editing (Alfredo Barros)
• Best Original Score (Chico Pereira)

Kassandra at the Três Passos Film Festival

Kassandra was selected for the Três Passos Film Festival (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our movie competes with other 31 short films produced in Brazil.

The 1st Três Passos Film Festival takes place between 13 and 15 November at Cine Teatro Globe, the town's traditional cinema.

Kassandra goes to Colombia

Another Latin American country will meet Kassandra.

Our film will be screened in the 4th Festival de Cine y Video Comuna 13, held in Medellín, Colombia, between September 29 and October 4. It will be part of a non-competitive exhibition of movies from Rio Grande do Sul. The movies were selected by the festival curators from indications of the Cinema State Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (Iecine).

Best Director at the Santo Angelo Film Festival

On 22 August, we were awarded the 3rd St. Angelo Film Festival - Short Film. Kassandra won the Golden Swan trophy for Best Director! The film's director, Ulysses da Motta Costa, was at the time representing cast and crew - and, coincidentally, was also his birthday.

In addition to directing award, Kassandra received nominations in three categories: Best Film, Best Screenplay (Roger Monteiro) and Best Actress (for Renata Stein).

Kassandra is back to Sao Paulo

Kassandra returns to the largest city in Brazil. The film was selected to the Terror no Olido Film Festival, in São Paulo. The screening will happen in July 21 at the Galeria Olido, along with other seven short films. 

Kassandra, a graphic novel

Soon, we will release the Kassandra graphic novel version! Yes, our heroine will star a graphic novel with art and story signed by the writer of the film, Roger Monteiro.

The idea has been developed since last year. Roger (who is also a visual artist) did the project autonomously. He even admits that it was a way to keep connected to the character for some time more. "It's easy to become attached to her, especially when you have a predisposition to be interested in crazy and mean girls in black and white," he says.

The graphic novel is called Kassandra, Verses of Silence and Madness and attempts to retell the story from the point of view of the character. The distinction begins with the visual: the short is in black and white, but the comic book will be colorized. "No realistic colors, but something of dream, almost lysergic" says Roger. Furthermore, Kassandra also now expresses herself orally, at least in text. "We actually have access to character thoughts, which are presented in verse, rhyming, which cause them to generate a stream of consciousness."

Wanna see some? Here it goes (in portuguese):

Kassandra goes to Uruguay

Kassandra will once again abroad! The film will be part of the Sur-Sul Festival in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, along with other films produced in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

In the official program, the "horror with brasileño rythm" will be screened on May 4th, Sunday. It will be the first of three sessions in the Cinemateca Uruguaya.

Kassandra mentioned in italian book

Kassandra is mentioned in La Notte Più Longa Del Mondo - Evil Dolls Movies, written by Samuelle Zàccaro and published bu UliversItalia. It's a complete guide for all films in wich a evil doll or puppet appears. 

Zàccaro got in touch with our director, Ullisses da Motta Costa, a few months ago to learn more about Blá-Blá, the main character's favorite dreadful toy. Now, he kindly send us his review for the film: 

KASSANDRA ***

2013, directed by Ulisses da Motta Costa. Starring Luis Franke, Leandro Lefa, Maico Silveira, Renata Stein. BRAZIL, 24min. B&W.

Young and beautiful Kassandra (Renata Stein) suffers from hallucinations. She is a recluse in her own home and refuses to speak. She is paranoid, claustrophobic and scared of crowds. She is afraid of her neighbour who is spying on her and her mind is obsessed with an ageing giant man and an evil doll. 

Psychological thriller with a good tension, the film adages to show the ghosts and fears crowding the mind of the complex main character. The film centres around psychological sufferings and symbolisms and it can be remembered for its conclusion and for the choice of filming everything in black and white thus placing the story in a sort of temporal limbo. Originality is not its main strength but the director demonstrates to have a good and assured hand. the film has been completed thanks to the funds of the Fundo municipal de Cultura and has won some awards in its country of production. 

Trivia: the doll used in the film (one of the numerous obsessions and fears of the protagonist) was owned by a woman working with the film's crew. She had had the doll since childhood but always found her to be somewhat creepy. The doll's model, called Blà-Blà, was very popular in Brasil in the 1950s and 1960s.

Interview: Ulisses da Motta Costa, director

Kassandra's director Ulisses da Motta Costa gave this interview for the italian horror site Darkveins. He talks about his career and, of course, about the making of Kassandra. 

He also explains his refined experiences with italian cinema (in the image, some examples of his favorite local productions) and refers to the importance of José Mojica Marins, the creator of Coffin Joe, in brazilian cinema.  Read the interview here. 

Darkveins also published this nice review of Kassandra.

Kassandra at Mostra do Filme Livre

Time for Kassandra to visit the biggest cities in Brazil! To be more exact: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia, the federal capital. Know more here.

This is because the short film was selected for the 13th Mostra do Filme Livre (Free Film Festival), which will take place between March and June this year. The sessions will take place at the Cultural Center Bank of Brazil in these three capitals.

Kassandra is among the 195 films chosen this year, over a thousand subscribers.