Sérgio Ricardo

Sérgio Ricardo

Born: June 18, 1932
Died: July 23, 2020
in Marília, São Paulo, Brazil
João Lutfi (18 June 1932 – 23 July 2020), known professionally as Sérgio Ricardo, was a Brazilian actor, musician, playwright and filmmaker, better known for being responsible for the soundtrack of Glauber Rocha's "Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol" ("Black God, White Devil").

Born in a Lebanese-Brazilian family in Marília, São Paulo, and brother to famed director of photography Dib Lutfi, João got his stage name from TV businessmen who wanted to rebrand him as a leading man with an iconic name during his early gigs as an actor. He's maily associated with the Cinema Novo (Brazilian New Wave) movement, but stayed active until 2018.

During the Cinema Novo days, Ricardo directed short film "Menino da Calça Branca" (1961) and "Esse Mundo É Meu" (1963), his feature-length debut. Among other notorious works in his career as a filmmaker is "A Noite do Espantalho", which shows Ricardo's talent as a polymath by mixing filmmaking with folk music and other elements of Brazilian popular culture, such as "cordel" literature.

Ricardo moved to the Vidigal slum, in Rio de Janeiro, by choice in the 1970s, where he lived until his death in 2020. "Bandeira de Retalhos" (2018), his last film, was adapted by a theatre play also written by him and chronicles the life in 1970s Vidigal.

Movies for Sérgio Ricardo...

Sérgio Ricardo: Uma Outra História do Cinema Novo
Title: Sérgio Ricardo: Uma Outra História do Cinema Novo
Released: April 6, 2024
Type: Movie
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Favela do Papa
Title: Favela do Papa
Character: Self
Released: April 2, 2023
Type: Movie
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Na Rota do Vento
Title: Na Rota do Vento
Released: November 21, 2019
Type: Movie
It is a realistic musical documentary, mixing the old and the new, exchanging chronological positions, creating a suggestive carousel for the audience. A tribute to Sérgio Ricardo's cinematographic work narrated through the assembly of scenes and tracks taken from the 7 films he directed. In this anthology, the most recurrent theme in the author's work is portrayed: the struggle of the oppressed worker who finds love, music and the community his escape valve.
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Pitanga
Title: Pitanga
Character: Self
Released: September 23, 2016
Type: Movie
This documentary investigates the aesthetic, political and existential trajectory of emblematic Black Brazilian actor Antônio Pitanga. His career spans over five decades, and he has worked with iconic Brazilian filmmakers Glauber Rocha, Cacá Diegues and Walter Lima Jr. He was a prominent figurehead and outspoken activist during the Brazilian dictatorship, a period of unrest in Brazilian cinema. "Pitanga" deep dives into the world of Antônio and the history of Brazil. The documentary was directed by his daughter Camila Pitanga, one of widely recognised faces in Brazilian television and cinema right now. The film is also a poem, and a tender ode to fatherhood.
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Pé Sem Chão
Title: Pé Sem Chão
Released: October 5, 2014
Type: Movie
Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro. A woman is left desperate and hopeless after she is evicted from her house with her disabled son.
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Calabouço 1968 - Um tiro no coração do Brasil
Title: Calabouço 1968 - Um tiro no coração do Brasil
Character: Ele mesmo
Released: March 28, 2014
Type: Movie
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2 Rabbits
Title: 2 Rabbits
Character: Capanga do Robério 1
Released: January 20, 2012
Type: Movie
Edgar is a young upper-middle class man, close to completing 30 years old, he lives a full life crisis and is in a position common to the vast majority of Brazilians. On the one hand the power, represented by a corrupt state, abusive and absent in their taxes before their obligations. On the other, crime increasingly organized violence became a constant in the lives of citizens in large cities. Edgar responds to all this as a modern vigilante. With the help of ingredients such as technology, counter-information and manipulation, Edgar concocts a brilliant plan, using the greed of their opponents as the reason for its destruction. As the plot unfolds, we know more about the dark past of each character as Edgar fit the pieces together in an intriguing puzzle that makes up the film's plot.
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A Night in 67
Title: A Night in 67
Character: Self
Released: July 30, 2010
Type: Movie
If you thought TV shows in which audiences and juries judge musical acts were a relatively new phenomenon, you'd better think again. In the 1970s, such "festivals" were incredibly popular in Brazil. They were recorded before a live studio audience, and usually featured a number of elimination rounds. They also formed the springboard for the career of many a big-name star, such as Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Roberto Carlos and Gilberto Gil. Appearing on such a program was no cakewalk, however: audiences could be as wild in their condemnation as in their appreciation of an artist. Extensive archive footage (including performances and behind-the-scenes interviews) from a turbulent final of the Festival of Brazilian Popular Music one evening in 1967 paints a fascinating picture, not only of the transformation of Brazilian music into real "festival" music, but also of a society starting to buck against the yoke of military rule.
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Milagrez
Title: Milagrez
Character: Self
Released: January 2, 2008
Type: Movie
Documentary on "Antonio das Mortes", Glauber Rocha's 1969 film.
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Title: O Som do Vinil
Character: Self
Released: September 13, 2007
Type: TV
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Depois do Transe
Title: Depois do Transe
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2006
Type: Movie
The documentary "Depois do Transe" covers the entire process of creating the masterpiece "Entranced Earth", which was released and awarded at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967. "Entranced Earth" charmed the world and won great admirers such as filmmaker Martim Scorsese and the writer Marguerite Duras, who at the time considered a "fabulous filmic opera."
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Descobrindo Waltel
Title: Descobrindo Waltel
Character: Ele mesmo
Released: January 1, 2005
Type: Movie
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Coisa Mais Linda - Histórias e Casos da Bossa Nova
Title: Coisa Mais Linda - Histórias e Casos da Bossa Nova
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2005
Type: Movie
Documentary about the birth of bossa-nova, in Brazil, and the major stars of this musical style.
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Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
Title: Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
Character: Self / Interviewee
Released: September 17, 2003
Type: Movie
Documentary about Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha, one of the most important names in the Cinema Novo, with interviews with some of his friends and colleagues.
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Enquanto a Tristeza não Vem
Title: Enquanto a Tristeza não Vem
Released: January 2, 2003
Type: Movie
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Zelão
Title: Zelão
Released: January 1, 1999
Type: Movie
Sérgio Ricardo's only animation film, a short made as a companion piece to his song "Zelão".
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Dib
Title: Dib
Character: Self
Released: January 2, 1997
Type: Movie
Documentary that addresses, through the testimony of directors and actors, the work of Dib Lutfi, considered one of the greatest photographers of Brazilian cinema.
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Para Viver Um Grande Amor
Title: Para Viver Um Grande Amor
Character: Carioca (voz cantando)
Released: April 30, 1984
Type: Movie
Poor people who live in the slums in Rio de Janeiro decide to occupy an empty apartment building in the rich part of the city. Meanwhile, a rich girl falls in love with a poor composer. Based on the musical play "Pobre Menina Rica", by Vinícius de Moraes and Carlos Lyra.
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Title: Parabéns pra Você
Character: Carlinhos
Released: February 16, 1983
Type: TV
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Un animal doué de déraison
Title: Un animal doué de déraison
Released: March 24, 1976
Type: Movie
A wealthy French promoter based in Rio tries to seduce Alexandra, a young woman of high society, but trapped in her strict education.
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O Tempo e o Som
Title: O Tempo e o Som
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1970
Type: Movie
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That World and Mine
Title: That World and Mine
Character: Pedro
Released: April 1, 1964
Type: Movie
The film follows two men living in a Rio de Janeiro slum: a black shoe-shiner and a white mill worker.
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Pluft, o Fantasminha
Title: Pluft, o Fantasminha
Released: August 20, 1962
Type: Movie
It tells the story of a girl being abducted by the evil pirate with a wooden leg.
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Menino da Calça Branca
Title: Menino da Calça Branca
Released: January 1, 1962
Type: Movie
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Pé na Tábua
Title: Pé na Tábua
Released: January 1, 1957
Type: Movie
Petrônio drives a bus and his friend Cabeleira is a ticket collector. When Petrônio's sister needs money to do a surgery they get involved with a film production company, where a psychopath is trying to be the protagonist of the movie.