An interesting point made at the "Brazilian Blockbusters" panel today at the FIICAV was that many of the most successful Brazilian movies in the national market have been biographies, eg, Cazuza - O Tempo Não Pára, 2 Filhos de Francisco, Zuzu Angel, Olga, and Vinícius. Director Breno Silveira (2 Filhos de Francisco) suggested that the Brazilian public is in serious need of its own heroes, and producer Rita Buzzar (Olga) said that audiences strongly identify with characters that are based on facts and the Brazilian reality. This echoes the idea that what filmmakers from an emerging market with limited resources can do better than anyone else is tell stories about themselves.

I've heard some comments that the trend of history-lite films "based on" the lives of real people indicates a crisis in fiction. On the one hand, Brazilian biographical movies are important vehicles for reflecting on national identity, but on the other hand, we still need fiction that takes a risk on creating characters that are equally as memorable.