Pixote. 1980. Brazil. Directed by Hector Babenco. Screenplay by Babenco, Jorge Durán, José Louzeiro. With Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Julião, Gilberto Moura, Edilson Lino. In Portuguese; English subtitles. 35mm. 128 min.
A New Directors/New Films festival premiere, Hector Babenco’s Pixote was filmed in the streets of São Paulo, Brazil, with a group of young, nonprofessional actors, taking inspiration from their lives and authentic stories of exploitation, misery, and survival to bring new life to socially and politically engaged cinema. Echoes of Italian Neorealism and Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados run through Babenco’s feature, which consciously avoids the often allegorical language of Cinema Novo (a film movement also promoted by Mancia in the United States). Pixote is one of many titles chosen by Mancia, Laurence Kardish, and Stephen Harvey for the series 1935–1985: 50 Years of Film at MoMA.