The Battle

[Cremildo]

Vera Egito’s The Battle (A Batalha Da Rua Maria Antonia) won best fiction feature in the Première Brasil section at the 25th Rio International Film Festival closing ceremony.

As with most years, the ceremony showcased some of the strongest voices in Brazilian cinema. Unlike previous editions, however, the top winner received its world premiere at the festival and had not already enjoyed successful runs in international festivals like Cannes, Venice or Toronto.

The film’s title refers to Rua Maria Antônia, a street in the centre of Brazilian city São Paulo which was the stage for a famous confrontation between left- wing and right-wing university students in October 1968 during Brazil’s military dictatorship.

On the night it screened, The Battle won over audiences and critics alike by recreating in 21 sequences the tension and violence experienced by teachers and students on that fateful day. The film captures the passion of the students as they clashed armed with sticks, stones, chairs, table legs and homemade bombs. +