In the year in which he completes 40 years of career, the Gramado Festival pays homage to one of the most representative Brazilian directors with the Eduardo Abelin Trophy: Jorge Furtado. The Portoalegrense crossed the paths of medicine, psychology, journalism and visual arts, but as fate would have it, he became one of the most emblematic directors, screenwriters and producers of Brazilian audiovisual. Mixing documentary and fictional languages, he created sensitive works that bring Brazilian dilemmas into a universal language, capable of capturing the sensations and disturbances of any viewer.
He began his professional career on television in the 1980s. In 1987, he was one of the founders of Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre, one of the most important film production centers in the country, which he is a member of to this day. On the big screen, he directed landmarks in the cinema produced in Rio Grande do Sul and became known as the director of some of the best short films in national cinema, such as “O dia em que Dorival encarou a guard” (1986), “Barbosa” (1988) and , mainly “Ilha das Flores” (1989), for which he received several national and international awards, including at the Berlin Festival. The Brazilian Association of Film Critics, Abraccine, classified the symbolic film as the best Brazilian short film of all time.
At the turn of the millennium, he debuted as a feature film director in “There Once Was Two Summers” (2002). With his second feature, “The Man Who Copied”, he reached the general public, bringing more than 600 thousand spectators to cinemas. For this, he received several awards, including best national film at the 2003 Brazilian Cinema Grand Prix. Furtado marked his career by directing feature films and special television programs, which opened new paths and discussions around Brazilian audiovisual.
For Rosa Helena Volk, President of Gramadotur, the municipal authority responsible for the city’s events, the honor reinforces the power of Gaucho cinema. “Jorge is a heritage of Brazilian cinema and, more than that, a director who matured his work in Gramado. Today we can celebrate the forty-year career of one of the biggest names in our cinema with this tribute during the festival”, he says.
The tribute will be delivered on August 16th, during the 52nd Gramado Film Festival, which takes place between the 9th and 17th.
