20 Sep – The opening ceremony of the 1st edition of the Brazilian Film Festival (BFF) 2023 was officiated at GSC Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, last night. The festival opens on 19 September and public screening of the movies will begin airing from 21 to 24 September at the GSC Mid Valley. The event was attended by YAM Tunku Mariam Zaharah Sultan Iskandar, H.E. Ary Norton de Murat Quintella, Ambassador of Brazil to Malaysia, YB Dato Sri Hj Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Sarawak, along with the sponsors and partners of the Festival.
The BFF 2023 will be presenting the screening of three Brazilian films; "Aquarius", "Bacurau" and "Amazônia Groove" - being some of the best movies produced in Brazil over the last few years.
H.E. Ary Norton de Murat Quintella, Ambassador of Brazil to Malaysia, is confident that Malaysians will enjoy this first ever Brazilian Film Festival. "This is an opportunity to take a glimpse into Brazilian society and culture, and to get to know Brazil better, and perhaps also move you to visit Brazil some day." The ambassador further expounded that the environment is one of the areas where Brazil and Malaysia could develop a deeper collaboration, and that both countries are already building the basics for that.
Vale Malaysia Minerals, a local subsidiary of Vale, one of the world's leading mining companies, is the corporate sponsor for the event. Chief Executive Officer of Vale Malaysia, Leonardo Paiva was pleased to share that Vale is preserving 1 million hectares of forest surrounding its operations around the world and is currently involved in the preservation of 800,000 hectares of forest in the Amazon.
In the speech by the Guest of Honour, YB Dato Sri Hj Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Sarawak, the minister said that he realised the sheer number of similarities that Brazil shares with Malaysia in general and with Sarawak in particular. "We share the privilege of owning spectacular rainforests, The Borneo rainforest and the Amazon rainforest. These are an immense biodiversity. We have the responsibility to protect both these forests as well as the livelihoods and the communities of the people who live in it." "We also share the common traits of having a plurality of ethnicities and cultures in our territories and preserving the tradition of indigenous populations. And last but not least, we also share our love for culture, music and of course food, as testified by the Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival which was held in Kuching, this year," the minister concluded. Organised by the Embassy of Brazil in Malaysia, tickets for the BFF movie screenings are free and open to the public. All movies are played in their original language, Portuguese, with subtitles in English. Ticket redemption starts one hour prior to each session, at GSC Mid Valley, on a first-come, first-served basis. Cinema Online is proud and honoured to be the official online partner for the 1st BFF in Malaysia. For BFF 2023 movie showtimes, synopsis and further details, visit our Brazilian Film Festival 2023 page HERE.