The Rite of Ismael Ivo Back to all content
O Rito de Ismael Ivo
2003 / 12'
Director: Ari Candido Fernandes
 
Life of black ballet dancer Ismael Ivo, his performances, testimonies about dance and the social difficulties to the ones that come from a lower social class and overcomes obstacles in his profession, until he gets famous all around the world.
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FESTIVALS & AWARDS

:: France, Toulouse Latinamerican Film Festival 2007, "Black Brazil" Selection

:: Belgium, Ghent International Dance Film Festival DansCamDanse 2005, Official Selection

:: Italy, Trieste Latinamerican Film Festival 2004, Official Selection

:: Brazil, Florianopolis Festival FAM 2003, Official Selection

:: Brazil, Sao Paulo Short Film Festival 2003, Official Selection

:: Brazil, Sao Paulo Audiovisual Mostra 2003, Official Selection

:: Brazil, São Paulo, 9th International Festival of Documentary Films It's All True, Selection "O Estado das Coisas"
 

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Born in Sao Paulo in 1955, Ismael Ivo, famous solo dancer and choregraph, left Brazil in 1983 to be a dancer at New York Alvin Ailey Dance Center.
During his stay in New York City, he was a model for the famous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who later inspired his solo evening "Mapplethorpe" (2002).
Having left New York for Germany in 1985, he is "Germany¹s most famous artist of Brazilian origin" according to Berlin House of World Cultures.
He collaborated closely with Japanese director and Butoh master Takao Kusuno and with Ushiu Amagatsu, the Japanese director and choreograph of the world famous Sankai Juku ensemble.
Since 1984, Ismael Ivo has been the artistic director of the International Dance Weeks in Vienna, Austria.
Since 2005, he has also been heading the Dance section of Venice Biennale, Italy.

Politically engaged, Ari Cândido Fernandes co-founded in 2001 the cinema movement "Dogma Feijoada - Genesis of Brazilian Black Cinema". His 1977 documentary
"Martinho da Vila, Paris 77", shot in Paris during the singer Martinho da Vila's tour, became a symbol of Brazilian Black Cinema.
He has also been a reporter photographing many world events for European news agencies, including Eritrean war and the fall of the Shah of Iran.