Monthly Archives: September 2013

Five more countries qualify for 2014 FIFA World Cup

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Football BeachAfter their games on 10 September, the Netherlands and Italy became the first European teams to guarantee their places at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Netherlands beat Andorra two-nil away, while Italy came from behind to beat the Czech Republic two-one.

On the same day the USA and Costa Rica became the first two teams from CONCACAF to qualify for the 2014 World Cup after the USA beat Mexico two-nil, and Costa Rica won the point they needed in a one-one draw with Jamaica.

Argentina also stamped its passport to the finals by beating Paraguay away by five goals to two. Argentina is the first team to qualify from the South America group. Brazil had already qualified as the host country.

Teams to have qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup now include:

  • Brazil
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Iran
  • Netherlands
  • Italy
  • Argentina
  • USA
  • Costa Rica

Tokyo to follow Rio de Janeiro as Olympic and Paralympic host city

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Tokyo 2020On 7 September 2013, Independence Day in Brazil, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in Buenos Aires that Tokyo had been chosen to follow Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games. Tokyo was chosen over Istanbul and Madrid, winning by 60 votes to 36 over Istanbul in the final vote.

It is a choice that is popular in Brazil as there are many historical links between Brazil and Japan with São Paulo having the largest Japanese population of any city outside of Japan. The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in 1908 and today Brazil is home to around 1.5 million people of Japanese descent, compared with just over 100,000 in the UK.

On 9 September it was announced that wrestling had been reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2020 and 2024 Games after being voted in ahead of baseball/softball and squash.

Tokyo’s new Olympic Stadium will be finished by 2019 in time to host the Rugby World Cup.

Liberdade - São Paulo

Liberdade – São Paulo

Brazil’s best restaurants

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Olympe

Olympe – Rio de Janeiro

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants programme announced its list of the 50 best restaurants in Latin America at a ceremony in Lima on 4 September 2013. D.O.M. was named as The S.Pellegrino Best Restaurant in Brazil as well as being ranked number 2 on the inaugural Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

São Paulo-based D.O.M. is headed up by chef Alex Atala, who is widely considered to be ‘the face of Brazilian cuisine’ and one of the world’s most influential chefs. At D.O.M. Atala has built a reputation for combining the most authentic Brazilian flavours with a contemporary approach.

At the awards event in Lima, Helena Rizzo, executive chef at fellow São Paulo restaurant Mani, which is ranked at number 5 on the list, received the Veuve Clicquot Latin America’s Best Female Chef Award. At Mani, Rizzo works with predominantly traditional Brazilian ingredients delicately treated with the latest techniques of international cuisine.

Brazilian restaurant Remanso do Bosque in Belém was given The Latin America’s One to Watch Award, sponsored by BBVA. Remanso do Bosque’s chefs Thiago and Felipe Castanho take inspiration from the proximity of the nearby forest, combining regional dishes with Amazonian flavours

In São Paulo the 50 best restaurants in Latin America included:

While in Rio de Janeiro the 50 best restaurants in Latin America included:

Festival do Rio unveils Première Brasil selection for 2013

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2013 banner

Festival do Rio, South America’s largest and most important film festival, has unveiled the line up for Première Brasil. Première Brasil is the only competitive section of Festival do Rio with jury prizes to be presented at the end of the festival. Three highly prized audience awards will also be bestowed on the best Brazilian feature film, best documentary and best short film.

Première Brasil, which has as its festival home the historic Odeon Petrobras (photo) in Cinelandia in downtown Rio de Janeiro, is the beating heart of Festival do Rio, and the best annual global showcase of contemporary Brazilian cinema.

This year’s Première Brasil includes eleven feature films, eight feature length documentaries and seventeen shorts in competition. A further three features and five documentary features will screen hors concours, while other Brazilian productions will screen in special Première Brasil sidebars such as Portraits and New Trends.

PREMIÈRE BRASIL | FICTION | COMPETITION

  • OS AMIGOS (Best Friends), by Lina Chamie (SP), 89’
  • DE MENOR (Underage), by Caru Alves de Souza (SP), 77’
  • ENTRE NÓS (Sheep’s Clothing), by Paulo Morelli (SP), 97’
  • ESTRADA 47 – A MONTANHA (Road 47 – The Mountain), by Vicente Ferraz (SP), 107’
  • O HOMEM DAS MULTIDÕES (The Man of the Crowd), by Marcelo Gomes e Cao Guimarães (MG), 93’
  • JOGO DAS DECAPITAÇÕES (Beheadings Game), by Sérgio Bianchi (SP), 96’
  • O LOBO ATRÁS DA PORTA (A Wolf at the Door), by Fernando Coimbra (SP), 100’
  • MINUTOS ATRÁS (Past Minut), by Caio Sóh (RJ), 106’
  • PERISCÓPIO (Periscope), by Kiko Goifman (SP), 80’
  • QUASE SAMBA (Lyrics), by Ricardo Targino (RJ), 90’
  • TATUAGEM (Tattoo), by Hilton Lacerda (PE), 110

 PREMIÈRE BRASIL | DOCUMENTARIES | COMPETITION

  • CATIVAS, PRESAS PELO CORAÇÃO (Captive Hearts), by Joana Nin (PR), 77’
  • CIDADE DE DEUS – 10 ANOS DEPOIS (City of God – 10 Years Later),by Cavi Borges & Luciano Vidigal (RJ), 75’
  • CONVERSA COM JH (Writers Block), by Ernesto Rodrigues (RJ), 93’ DAMAS DO SAMBA (Lady’s Samba), by Susanna Lira (RJ), 75’
  • A FARRA DO CIRCO (Ruckus in the Circus), by Roberto Berliner & Pedro Bronz (RJ), 94’
  • FLA x FLU (Fla x Flu), by Renato Terra (SP), 85’
  • A GENTE (Custodians), by Aly Muritiba (PR), 99’
  • HISTÓRIAS DE ARCANJO – UM DOCUMENTÁRIO SOBRE TIM LOPES (Stories of Arcanjo – a documentary about Tim Lopes), by Guilherme Azevedo (RJ), 84’.

 PREMIÈRE BRASIL | FICTION | HORS CONCOURS

  • EDUCAÇÃO SENTIMENTAL (Sentimental Education), by Julio Bressane (RJ), 84’
  • GATA VELHA AINDA MIA (Never too Old to Meow), by Rafael Primot (SP), 86’
  • MATO SEM CACHORRO (The Dognapper), by Pedro Amorim (RJ), 121’

 PREMIÈRE BRASIL | DOCUMENTARIES | HORS CONCOURS

  • CAUBY – COMEÇARIA TUDO OUTRA VEZ (Cauby – I Would Start All Over Again), by Nelson Hoineff (RJ), 80’
  • FEIO, EU? (Ugly, Me?), by Helena Ignez (SP), 70’
  • MATARAM MEU IRMÃO (They Killed My Brother), by Cristiano Burlan (SP), 77’;
  • SERRA PELADA: A LENDA DA MONTANHA DE OURO (The Legend Of the Golden Mountain), by Victor Lopes (RJ), 90’.
  • VINTE – RioFilme, 20 anos de cinema brasileiro (Twenty), by Carlos Diegues (RJ) 80