Suzana Amaral Rezende (March 28, 1932 – June 25, 2020) was a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. She was best known for the 1985 film ''A Hora da Estrela'' ('' Hour of the Star'').

Career

Amaral's film career started at the age of 37 when she entered the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

film school. After graduating, she taught at the University for three years and began working for Radio and Television Cultura. In her 14-year career at Radio and Television Cultura she produced approximately 50 documentaries, films, and plays for the station. In 1976 she moved to New York to pursue a degree in film from the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. She completed this degree and graduated in 1978.

''A Hora da Estrela''

Amaral's first feature film and best known work, ''A Hora da Estrela'' ( Hour of the Star) was released in 1985. Based on the novel of the same name by

Clarice Lispector Clarice Lispector (born Chaya Pinkhasivna Lispector ( uk, Хая Пінкасівна Ліспектор); December 10, 1920December 9, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her innovative, idiosyncratic works exp ...

, the film focuses on the life of a troubled young protagonist, Macabéa (

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 ...

), living in São Paulo. According to film critic Nissa Torrents, "the film upsets many stereotypes in its presentation of the female protagonist, who is neither beautiful nor middle-class. An anti-heroine, starved of affection and respect, she wanders through life looking for an image she can adopt and adapt." The film was well received at its release and was a Submission to the 59th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Additionally, it was entered into the

36th Berlin International Film Festival The 36th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held 14–25 February 1986. The festival opened with ''Ginger and Fred'' by Federico Fellini, which played out of competition at the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to West German film ...

, where actress

won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

. At the 1985 Brasilia Film Festival the film won best picture and Amaral won best director. Additionally, the film also won best picture at the 1986 Havana Film Festival. Amaral was chosen as best director at the 1986 International Woman's Film Festival. ''A Hora da Estrela'' was shot in four weeks on a budget of $150,000, 70% of which was funded by Embrafilme. The success of ''A Hora da Estrela'' led Amaral to immediate notoriety, though none of her other films have achieved such success.

Personal life

Amaral had nine children, one of which was born while she was pursuing her film studies in São Paulo. She has said that she was "totally dedicated to motherhood for 10 years" before deciding to pursue her dream of filmmaking. She was divorced. Amaral was an avid follower of Bollywood films who said she wanted Indian films to come to Brazil in a big way.Sify
/ref> Amaral was a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Filmography

References

External links