Valencia College opens its doors to the 7th annual Brazilian Film Festival Feb. 13 through Feb. 21 and will be screening six films brought together by professor Richard Sansone and celebrated filmmaker Elisa Tolomelli.

The festival is free and open to the public with films being shown at the Osceola Campus and the West Campus.

All of the films being show at this years’ festival will be shown in Portuguese with English subtitles.

Valencia’s Brazilian Film Festival is presented in partnership with the Central Florida Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce and the University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies and is one of only two

Brazilian Film Festivals held in Florida.

Professor Sansone, who was originally hired at Valencia to teach English to non-natives, went on to develop the first Portuguese language program on campus in 1990 and has been teaching both classes ever since.

“I think about teaching languages as a vehicle for cross-cultural understanding, access and empowerment,” writes Sansone, on his faculty bio page.

Sansone and Tolomelli begin the film selection process each July from a list of over forty. It takes months to go through the screening process for consideration in the festival.

“Something I’ve always tried to do with the film festival is to present a representative sampling of Brazilian contemporary culture,” explained Sansone. “I want to show people what Brazil is and what it’s going through.”

Luciano Mota Reis will hold a brief Q&A for audience members following the showing of “Coco” on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20.

For additional information please call (407) 582-1383 or visit the festival’s official website or Facebook page.

The five full-length features are:
• “Colegas” (“Buddies”), Feb. 13, 7p.m. – West Campus – Building 3, Room 111
• “Xingu” (“Xingu”), Feb. 17, 7p.m. – Osceola Campus – Building 1, Auditorium
• “Faroeste Coboclo” (“Brazilian Western”), Feb. 18, 7p.m. – West Campus – Building 3, Room 111
• “Disparos” (“Auto-exposure”), Feb. 20, 7p.m. – West Campus – Building 3, Room 111
• “Minha Mãe é uma Peça” (“My Mom is a Character”), Feb. 21, 7p.m. – West Campus – Building 3, Room 111
• “Coco” (“Coconut”), Feb. 17 and 20, 6:30p.m. – Osceola Campus – Building 1, Auditorium (Feb. 17) and  West Campus – Building 3, Room 111 (Feb. 20)

(Taken from the Feb. 5 issue)