Karim Aïnouz

Karim Aïnouz
Aïnouz in 2024
Born (1966-01-17) 17 January 1966 (age 58)
Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
OccupationFilm director
Years active1992–present
Known forThe Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão

Karim Aïnouz (/kəˈriːm aɪˈnuːz/;[1] Portuguese: [kɐˈɾĩ ajˈnus];[2] born 17 January 1966) is a Brazilian film director and visual artist. He is best known for his film The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão.

Career

Karim Aïnouz was born to a Brazilian mother and an Algerian father, in Fortaleza, Ceará, in the Brazilian Northeast.[3] He is a film director, screenwriter and visual artist.

Aïnouz's feature debut, Madame Satã, premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

His following films, Suely in the Sky, and I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You, co-directed with Marcelo Gomes, premiered at the Orizzonti of the in 2006 and 2009 Venice Film Festival.

In 2011, The Silver Cliff was presented in the Directors' Fortnight and won Best Director at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

In television, Aïnouz created and directed Alice, a 13 episode fiction series for HBO Brasil. His short films and installations have been shown at numerous venues including The Whitney Museum of American Art, the São Paulo Biennial, the Sharjah Biennial and Videobrasil.

As creative advisor and lecturer, Aïnouz has been invited to numerous Screenwriters Labs and institutions such as Princeton University, Wexner Center for the Arts, MIT, EICTV among others. Karim Aïnouz has been developing, alongside fellow filmmakers Marcelo Gomes and Sérgio Machado, The Center for Audiovisual Narratives in partnership with State authorities of Ceará, Brazil. Among other activities, they coordinate and work as creative advisors to the Screenwriters Lab, a one-year program committed to the development of a new generation of filmmakers, providing support throughout their projects. Since 2017, Aïnouz is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Karim Aïnouz documentary Zentralflughafen THF, premiered at the 68th Berlinale – Panorama, won the Amnesty International Film Award, and has been screened in over 10 festivals. His previous feature Futuro Beach, had its world premiere at the 64th Berlinale Competition.

In 2019 he released The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, an adaptation of the Brazilian novel A Vida Invisivel de Eurídice Gusmão, written by Martha Batalha, depicting the struggle of two sisters against repression and bigotry in the 1950s Rio de Janeiro. The film was screened at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the section top prize.

In 2021, Aïnouz released his third documentary, Mariner of the Mountains, which followed his search for his Algerian roots in Algiers, the homeland of his father.[4]

In 2023, Aïnouz released his English language debut film, Firebrand, as part of the main competition of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The film follows the final years of Henry VIII's reign and his wife Catherine Parr.[5]

In 2024, Aïnouz went back to the Brazilian Northeast with the erotic thriller Motel Destino. The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme D'Or.[6]

Favourite films

In 2022, Aïnouz participated in the Sight & Sound film polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice.[7] Aïnouz's selections were:

Filmography

Feature film

Year Title Director Writer
2001 Behind the Sun No Yes
2002 Madame Satã Yes Yes
2004 Se fosse tudo sempre assim Yes No
2005 Lower City No Yes
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures No Yes
2006 Suely in the Sky Yes No
Love for Sale No Yes
2009 I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You Yes[a] Yes
2011 The Silver Cliff Yes Yes
2014 Futuro Beach Yes Yes
2019 The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão Yes No
2023 Firebrand Yes No
2024 Motel Destino Yes Yes
TBA Rosebush Pruning Yes No

Documentary film

  • Velázquez (2015)
  • Zentralflughafen THF (2018)
  • Mariner of the Mountains (2021)

Short film

Year Title Director Writer
1992 O Preso Yes Yes
1994 Paixão Nacional Yes Yes
1996 Hic Habitat Felicitas Yes Yes
2000 Rifa-me Yes No
2011 Sunny Lane Yes Yes
Destricted.br Yes Yes

Documentary short

Year Title Director Writer
1993 Seams Yes Yes
1998 Les Ballons des Bairros Yes No
2004 Sertão de Acrílico Azul Piscina Yes Yes
2014 Sunday Yes Yes

TV series

Year Title Director Writer Notes
2008 Alice Yes No Episode "O Primeiro Dia Do Resto Da Minha Vida"
2014 Cathedrals of Culture Yes Yes Episode "Centre Pompidou"

Awards

  • 2019: Prix Un Certain Regard for The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão
  • 2018: Amnesty International Film Prize, Berlinale, for Zentralflughafen THF
  • 2011: Second Grand Coral Award, Havana Film Festival, for The Silver Cliff
  • 2011: Award for Best Director, Rio International Film Festival, for The Silver Cliff
  • 2010: Grand Prix Coup de Coeur, 22º Rencontres Cinémas d'Amérique Latin (Toulouse/France), for I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You co-directed with Marcelo Gomes.
  • 2009: Award for Best Director, Rio International Film Festival, for I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You
  • 2009: FIPRESCI Award, Havana Film Festival, for I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You
  • 2009: Third Grand Coral Award, Havana Film Festival, for I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You
  • 2006: FIPRESCI Award, 47th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, for Love for Sale
  • 2006: Grand Coral Award, Havana Film Festival, for Love for Sale
  • 2006: Award for Best Film, Rio International Film Festival, for Love for Sale
  • 2006: Award for Best Director, Rio International Film Festival, for Love for Sale
  • 2002: Gold Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival, for Madame Satã
  • 2002: Award for Best Director, Biarritz Film Festival, for Madame Satã
  • 2002: Award for Best Director, São Paulo Association of Art Critics Awards, for Madame Satã
  • 1997: Award for Best Short, Ann Arbor Film Festival, for Seams
  • 1994: Award for Best Short, Atlanta Film Festival, for Seams

Notes

  1. ^ Co-directed with Marcelo Gomes

References

  1. ^ "Interview Karim Aïnouz – THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF EURÍDICE GUSMÃO". Zurich Film Festival. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Karim Aïnouz comenta cena de Praia do Futuro | Cena Comentada". Canal Brasil. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  3. ^ Garcia Fonseca, Bruna (10 June 2019). "After Cannes, Karim Aïnouz works on documentary on Algeria". anba.com.br. Brazil-Arab News Agency. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  4. ^ Felperin, Leslie (17 May 2022). "Mariner of the Mountains review – dreamily wonderful Algerian odyssey". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  5. ^ Rubin, Manori Ravindran,Elsa Keslassy,Rebecca; Ravindran, Manori; Keslassy, Elsa; Rubin, Rebecca (18 May 2023). "Alicia Vikander and Jude Law's 'Firebrand' Sells Out Internationally Ahead of Cannes Premiere, Prime Video Swooping for U.K. Deal (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 19 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Barraclough, Leo (7 August 2023). "'Firebrand' Director Karim Aïnouz Starts Production on Erotic Thriller 'Motel Destino,' the Match Factory Handles Sales". Variety. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Karim Aïnouz | BFI". www.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2024.