''Amélia'' is a 2001 Brazilian

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Ana Carolina Ana Carolina Sousa (, born September 9, 1974) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and musician. Career Carolina has a contralto vocal range. Her musical influence comes from the crib, her grandmother used to sing on the radio, and her great aunt a ...

, inspired by the visit of French actress

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...

to Brazil, in 1905. In the film, the actress is under a professional and personal crisis, but is induced by her Brazilian housekeeper, Amélia, to start performing in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. However, the actress is forced to live with the exotic sisters of Amélia. Ana Carolina had already written the screenplay for the film in 1989, but does not produced due to lack of money. It was shot in

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

and

. It debuted at the

Biarritz Film Festival The Biarritz Festival Latin America (french: Festival Biarritz Amérique Latine) is an international film festival held annually in the French city of Biarritz, since 1979 to promote the Latin American cinema and culture with the French people ...

where

Béatrice Agenin Béatrice Agenin (born 30 July 1950 in Paris, France) is a French stage, film, television actress and stage director. Career Second prize of French National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1974, she was hired at the Comédie-Française The Coméd ...

won the best actress award. The film received three nominations at the

Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro The Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro, more popularly known as Grande Otelo, is a Brazilian film award. It was established in 2000 as Grande Prêmio Cinema Brasil by the Ministry of Culture of Brazil that presented it in 2000 and 2001. In 2002 ...

in the categories of best actress, for Miriam Muniz, best screenplay and best art direction.

Cast

Marília Pêra Marília Soares Pêra (22 January 1943 – 5 December 2015) was a Brazilian actress, singer, and stage director. Hailed as "one of the decade's 980sten best actresses" by Pauline Kael, Pêra won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Be ...

as Amélia *

Camilla Amado Camilla de Hollanda Amado, whose stage name was Camilla Amado (7 August 1938 – 6 June 2021 * 1980 – ''Partner Adventure'' * 1995 – '' The Girls'' – Mother Alix * 1998 – ''Abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to som ...

as Oswalda * Pedro Bismark * Alice Borges as Maria Luiza *

Marcélia Cartaxo Marcélia Cartaxo (born 27 October 1963) is a Brazilian actress. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television shows since 1985. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in ''Ho ...

Betty Gofman Betty Gofman (Rio de Janeiro, June 3, 1965) is a Brazilian stage, film, and television actress. Descended from Russian-Austrian Jews, she is married to philosopher Hugo Barreto, with whom she has two daughters, the twins Alice and Helena, and she ...

as Vicentine * Xuxa Lopes * Duda Mamberti * Miriam Muniz as Francisca * Otávio Terceiro as Otávio III * Cristina Pereira * Pedro Paulo Rangel

References

External links

* 2001 films 2001 comedy-drama films Brazilian comedy-drama films Films set in the 1900s Fiction set in 1905 Biographical films about actors Films directed by Ana Carolina Films shot in Pernambuco Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (state) Cultural depictions of Sarah Bernhardt 2000s Portuguese-language films {{2000s-comedy-drama-film-stub