FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, april 13 2010. "Beyond The Light" is a documentary that takes us into the universe of the visually impaired through six blind people in Brazil - their difficulties, joys, dreams and emotions. In upbeat accounts, they expose the reality of their lives and show that the road to a better life is through education and information. That includes the importance of Louis Braille's method in this process and so the filmmaker also goes to France to tell the story of this renowned man who invented a simple and useful writing system, which opened the doors of knowledge to all those who can’t see.
Documentary (Color-NTSC / 62 min. / Brazil, France and USA - 2009)
A Goulart Filmes and Avanturi Productions production
Executive producers: Marcelo Nigri and Nayglon Goulart
Producers: Marcelo Nigri, Ivy Goulart and Nayglon Goulart
Director and screenwriter: Ivy Goulart
Photography: Ivy Goulart
B&W photographs: Walter Carvalho
Editing and research: Marcelo Nigri and Ivy Goulart
Sound operator: Nayglon Goulart
Sound recording: Timothy Korn and Marcelo Nigri
Re-recording mixer: Tim Starnes
Portuguese audio description and narration: Ivy Goulart
English audio description: Allie Bethea
English narration: Josh Philip Weinstein
Interviewees: Laélio Inácio, Vilmar Dal Toè, Francisco de Assis Domingos, Alexandre Rzatki, Maria da Gloria Almeida, Manoel de Souza, Valnei Teixeira, Luiz Goulart, Albertina Pessoa Domingos, Eulália Pereira Inácio, Rosimeri de Fátima Dal Toè and Claudia Rodrigues
Voice-over actors: George Shepherd (Laélio Inácio), Tom Shewchuk (Vilmar Dal Toè), Rhasaan Oyasaba Manning (Francisco de Assis Domingos), Mike Catapano (Alexandre Rzatki), Hilma Falkowski (Maria da Gloria Almeida), Morris Mandell (Manoel de Souza), Stephen Moskovitz (Valnei Teixeira), Dan Royer (Luiz Goulart), Minna Taylor (Albertina Pessoa Domingos), Cathy Figuccio (Eulália Pereira Inácio), De Anne Dubin (Rosimeri de Fátima Dal Toè) and Laura Augeri (Claudia Rodrigues)
Music: Heitor Villa-Lobos, by Aldo Baldin
Audio description consultant: Ana Fátima Berquó
Art designer: Luciane Nard
Translation: Marcelo Nigri and Robert McCullough
Synopsis - small
"Beyond The Light" is a documentary that takes us into the universe of six visually impaired people in Brazil and exposes the importance of education and information (and in that context Louis Braille's system) for a better life.
THE FILMMAKERS
IVY GOULART
(director, screenwriter, photography, co-editor, co-producer)
Brazilian-born-and-raised Ivy Goulart (pronounced e-v) started his artistic career in 1995 as a full-fledged actor: In the theater, he's done from Papagueno in “The Magic Flute” (by Mozart, directed by Marcelo Marchioro) to Anselmo in “Trance” (by Ronald Rad, directed by Marley Mello), to Vespone in “La Serva Padrona” (by Pergolesi, directed by Edson Bueno and conducted by Osvaldo Colarusso); in cinema, he's done from short films like “Four Friends Talking About Love” (2000, directed by Gil Barone) to feature films like “The Last Battle” (2005, directed by João Stefan); and on TV, Goulart has participated in several sitcoms and soap operas by Rede Globo, the biggest Television Network in South America.
Goulart received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Filmmaking and Education (his monograph for the course was “Film in Education”), at the Gama Filho University, in Rio de Janeiro, where he discovered his calling as a director.
As a filmmaker, he wrote, directed and co-produced projects such as the documentaries "Black Gold" (short, about an accident in a mining factory in the south of Brazil), "Tracking The Cultural Convoy" (short, about a program which consisted of traveling buses bringing culture to the needy populations in Brazil), and "The Cleansing of Bonfim: From Bahia to New York" (about the spiritual tradition that was "exported" to the United Sates and has become a fixture on the annual Brazilian Day)"; the hybrids "Illuminations" (short, about the influence of art in art) and "Francisco De Assis" (feature, about the incredible life story of one of the blind men from "Beyond the Light") and the narrative short "Edilamar" (based on the real story of a girl who drowned in the sea), selected for the project “Revealing the Many Brazils” in 2004 by the Ministry of Culture of Brazil.
All those films have participated and garnered awards in several Brazilian and international film festivals and showings.
Goulart invariably also performs other important functions in his films as well, such as director of photography and editor. The multi-tasking however doesn't come from ego or any self-serving intents but for sheer lack of funding. Up to the time of making "Beyond the Light", Goulart and his associates Marcelo Nigri and Nayglon Goulart (also his brother) have paid for all the films themselves, usually having to borrow equipment and reduce the crew to a minimum. With the exception of "Edilamar", which was government funded (and yet ended up needing more investment from the part of the filmmaker), none of Goulart's films have been sponsored to date.
In a time when "passion for films" and "guerrilla filmmaking" are popular terms used by filmmakers in group discussions and conversations at parties, Ivy Goulart is actually living it up and being outside doing his next project. Guided by only his will, his heart and his ideas, he will mostly figure out how to do it upon doing it.
Goulart has been also involved in a number of social projects, from the "Theater Workshop for the Poor" (developed by himself in Brazil), to the "Doctors of Joy" (a program similar to the work of Dr. Patch Adams, immortalized in the Robin Williams film), to being the curator of the Brazilian Endowment for the Arts (which promotes the screening of classic, independent and successful Brazilian films in NYC).
Upon completing 10 years of his career, Goulart was honored by the City Hall and City Council of Urussanga, receiving the “Honor of Merit” award, for representing his hometown artistically.
Currently, he lives in New York, where he is developing his new film projects.
MARCELO NIGRI (co-producer)
Studied Computer Science at ORT Technical Institute and, in 1997, graduated from Rio de Janeiro State University with a Bachelor Degree in Accounting. He also graduated from Angel Vianna School of Contemporary Dance, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2003. Since then he has worked with the Choreographic Atelier of Rio de Janeiro, Esther Weitzman Dance Company, Grupo Ribalta and continues to do his projects as a choreographer, dancer and producer. In 2005, Nigri moved to New York, where he completed the Professional Training Program of the Merce Cunningham Studio. He is the executive director and producer of Goulart Filmes and has been working with Ivy Goulart on independent filmmaking since 2003.
NAYGLON GOULART (co-producer)
Studied trading and marketing at the Center for Professional Education (CEDUP) and, in 2006, graduated from University UNISUL with a degree in Social Communications and specialization in Advertising. In his hometown, he was a council advisor in the City Council from 2003 to 2008 and has always been involved with organizations that promote socio-cultural projects for the communities of Urussanga and adjacent cities, thus developing along with Goulart Filmes, social inclusion projects through moviemaking. He has been the executive producer in Brazil since 2003.
ANTONIA GAMA (editor)
Graduated in Filmmaking from Gama Filho University, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2005, and has a masters degree in Social Sciences from PUC-RIO (2009). She has worked with video, film and TV editing since 2002 and also teaches Avid and Final Cut Pro. Among her main works as an editor are the short films “Windows to the World” (by Sidney Schroeder), and “From the Earth” (by Janaína Diniz Guerra), and several TV programs from several networks. She was also assistant editor for the feature films “Women of Brazil” (by Malú de Martino), and “The Man from Lagoa Santa” (by Renato Menezes). Antonia has worked with Goulart Filmes as an editor or consultant editor since 2003.
TIM STARNES (sound mixer)
The American music and sound editor and engineer has one of the most distinguished resumés in the business, having worked in Martin Scorcese’s “The Aviator” and “The Departed”, Peter Jackson's “King Kong” and "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy, Robert De Niro's "The Good Shepherd", Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock", Cary Joji Fukunaga's "Sin Nombre", Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant", to name just a few. It was Starnes's faith and love for the work that brought him into the project, proving that there are still some people in the industry who do it for passion.
PRODUCTION NOTES
A beautiful black & white photography exhibit has been accompanying "Beyond the Light" in some screenings. Shot by accomplished Brazilian artist Walter Carvalho during the visitation and shooting of the film at the Instituto Benjamin Constant, an institution devoted to the blind people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the exhibit displays a vast array of scenes and children one might encounter at the institute on a normal day, but under the poetic eye of a professional photographer.
One of the most important and renowned directors of photography of Brazil, Walter Carvalho has shot over 70 films, amassing 39 awards and 13 nominations, and counting. He's also a writer and started a successful career as a movie director. Still photography might be just one of his "side-jobs", however the artistic quality and precise devotion to the task remains indistinguishable from any other he performs. The photographs can also be seen in “Beyond the Light” as inserts illustrating the narration and some testimonials.
"Beyond the Light" also features audio descriptions so the blind can also be able to enjoy it. As the director points out, "It wouldn't make sense to make a film about people with disability, without including them in the audience", so a whole audio treatment for the visually impaired to understand the images they cannot see was made - a team of voice-over artists were gathered and, believing in the cause, volunteered their services for the film. "Beyond the Light tries to go beyond the obligation of being politically correct", says the director, "Our message is about awareness and alert: the movies need to become accessible to the blind and the deaf, there's no way to run away from that. The world needs to become sensitive to the fact that being different is normal".
"Beyond the Light" features five main interviewees: Laélio Inácio, Vilmar Dal Toè, Francisco de Assis Domingos, Alexandre Rzatki and Maria da Gloria Almeida. One of them, however, Francisco de Assis, has had such an incredible life story and is such an amazing human being that Goulart decided to make a film only about him. With plenty of material for a feature film, Goulart's next release will mix narrative filmmaking (with Francisco's children playing him at different ages up to the present day) with documentary filmmaking (when Francisco "takes over his own part" and then the film follows his daily life) in a story that will inspire and touch people as much as "Beyond the Light" does.
"Beyond the Light" has already had the distinction of having being screened in the Federal Senate of Brazil during the Week Honoring Persons with Disabilities, the United Nations on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, at the Benjamin Constant Institute (the institution in Rio de Janeiro dedicated to the persons with visual disabilities and the sole Braille publisher in Latin America) and at the Celebration of Louis Braille's Bicentennial in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
“Beyond the Light” has also been invited to the 9th Picture This...International Disability Film Festival in Calgary, Canada, and future screenings include the 11th Havana Film Festival in New York, a special showing in Paris, France by the Portuguese Consulate and the receiving of a special award at the Strasbourg University.
CONTACT
WWW.GOULARTFILMES.COM
Marcelo Nigri
Producer
marcelo.nigri@gmail.com { Email
1 718 676-7939 - Office
1 917 557-9047 - Cell
