Pictures of Ghosts (Portuguese: Retratos Fantasmas) is a 2023 Brazilian documentary film written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The film revisits Kleber's hometown, the Brazilian city of Recife, through the historical prism of the cinemas he once frequented, based on his own personal archival footage, remembering what used to be idyllic places, now closed, that constituted an important time-marker in the evolution of Brazilian society.[1]
Downtown Recife’s classic movie palaces from the 20th century are mostly gone. That city area is now an archaeological site of sorts that reveals aspects of life in society which have been lost. And that's just part of the story.[2]
Production
During seven years, while watching his own old videos at his office, on VHS, Betacam, and Hi8 cassettes, or on MiniDV, personal files and records which also contain photographs and audio recordings, Kleber began the film developing, also aiming to shoot new footage with modern equipment. Official production started in 2017, before the shooting of 2019's Bacurau, as a side project, with its own time frame.[1]
The film had its Brazilian premiere on 14 August 2023, in Recife,[7] and was released in the rest of the country on 24 August 2023, by Vitrine Filmes.
Reception
Critical response
Pictures of Ghosts has an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 33 reviews, and an average rating of 8.1/10.[8]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]
