Gal Costa: Programa Ensaio

From a repressive childhood to artistic revolution, Ney Matogrosso transforms Brazil's stages — and himself — through music, creativity and inner fire.

At the Philharmonie de Paris, Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil revisits half a century of his career in a gentle, committed, and eclectic concert.

An livid and comic presentation of Madureira in Rio de Janeiro.

In a small village in the hinterland, three stories of love and desire are changing the emotional landscape of its residents. Characters of a romanesque world in which their conceptions of life are limited on one side by human instincts, on the other by a blind and fatalist fate.

"Estratosférica ao Vivo" is not just the record of a Gal Costa show. It is the portrait of the artist reaching the 70 years of life, 50 of them dedicated to music. The show "Estratosférica" ​​crowns the new artistic phase of Gal, more and more interested in connecting several tips of the history of the music of Brazil, joining the composers of its generation to names of the new national scene. The script, created by Marcus Black, was very good at this idea. Sewing songs by Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Luiz Melodia, Jards Macalé and Waly Salomão, Carlos Pinto and Torquato Neto, Roberto and Erasmo Carlos - a series of tropicalist and post-tropicalist works that until now serve as reference and feed the new generations of music.

For 20 years, a subculture has emerged in Brazil under society's radar. It is the culture surrounding 'funk carioca', a musical rhythm which mixes the American electronic funk of the 1980s with the most diverse influences of Brazilian music. 'Baile funk' is one of the most interesting musical movements in the world, but it comes from what is at times one of the most violent and poorest places in the world: the slums of Rio de Janeiro (favelas). This music is the personalization of the raw element. Bombastic rhythms coming from the American Miami Bass and samples are fused with powerful rap vocals using Brazilian slang. This documentary tells stories of sex, love, poverty, and pride among Rio's marginalized people. They have their own language, style, and heroes. It's a film that's fast, heavy, and violent like the city itself.

Celebrating 50 years of her career, Maria Bethânia filmed in Brazil in 2105 the show Abraçar e Agradecer, which now comes out on CD and DVD.