Fábio Barreto | |
|---|---|
 Barreto during the premiere ofLula, o filho do Brasil at the 2009 Brasília Film Festival | |
| Born | Fábio Villela Barreto Borges (1957-06-06)June 6, 1957 Rio de Janeiro,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Died | November 20, 2019(2019-11-20) (aged 62) Rio de Janeiro,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Occupations | Film director, film producer, screenwriter, actor |
| Years active | 1977–2009 |
| Spouse | Déborah Kalume (2003–2019) |
Fábio Villela Barreto Borges (June 6, 1957 – November 20, 2019) was a Brazilian filmmaker, actor, screenwriter, and film producer. He was best known for directingO Quatrilho (which was the first Brazilian film nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in more than 30 years) andLula, o filho do Brasil, a biography based on PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva's early life, which had been the most expensive film in the history ofBrazilian cinema upon its release. Barreto slipped into acoma in 2009 after being involved in a car accident inRio de Janeiro and, in August 2014, was reported to be in aminimally conscious state. He died on November 20, 2019, after almost 10 years in a coma.[1]
Barreto was born on 1957 in Rio de Janeiro. He was the youngest son of well-known movie producersLuís Carlos and Lucy Barreto. His brother is the fellow filmmakerBruno Barreto, responsible for the 1976 international box office hitDona Flor and Her Two Husbands, starringSônia Braga.[2]
He started his career in 1977, at age 20, directing theshort subjectA estória de José e Maria. Since then, he acted in two films —Nelson Pereira dos Santos'Memórias do Cárcere (1984), and his father'sFor all - O trampolim da vitória (1997) — and directed nine feature films, the Brazilian version ofDesperate Housewives, an episode of TV seriesVocê Decide and two other short films.[2]
His first feature wasÍndia, a Filha do Sol, starringGlória Pires as aNative-Brazilian who tries to survive the brutality of diamond mining inCentral-Western Brazil and ends up falling in love with a white soldier. The film score was composed byCaetano Veloso, whom Barreto would later criticize for calling Lula an "illiterate". In 1986 he directedO Rei do Rio, based on a play byDias Gomes, which tells the story of two friends who enrich through illegal gambling gamejogo do bicho and became rivals in the struggle for political power. Both films featuredNuno Leal Maia as the leading male star.[3][2]
His next film wasLuzia-Homem, based on the novel of the same name by 19th-century writerDomingos Olímpio. It featured Claudia Ohana as a masculinized woman seeking revenge for the murder of her parents, which ends up finding love. In 1991, following theLambadadance craze, he directed a film about it.[3][2] After a four-year hiatus, he directedO Quatrilho, the first Brazilian film to be nominated for theAcademy Award forBest Foreign Language Film sinceO Pagador de Promessas, released in 1962. In 1997 he directed his firstEnglish language film,Bela Donna (released in theUnited States asWhite Dunes), starringNatasha Henstridge andAndrew McCarthy.[2][3]
In 2002 he directed his seventh film, the critically acclaimedA Paixão de Jacobina. He would only return to directing a few years later, releasingNossa Senhora de Caravaggio and the Brazilian version ofDesperate Housewives (filmed inArgentina) in 2007.[2] In 2009 he shotLula, o filho do Brasil. The film, which premiered on January 1, 2010, is his fourth collaboration with Glória Pires. Considered a highly controversial movie at the time of its release, the film was unanimously chosen by a Ministry of Culture commission as Brazil'ssubmission to the 83rd Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The choice was heavy criticized in Brazil and the film failed to get the nomination forthat year'sAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film.[1]
He was married to actress Dora Pellegrino, with whom he had a daughter, Mariana. He was married to actress Déborah Kalume since 2003, with whom he had João (b. 2006). He was also the father of Lucas (with Amanda Martins) and Júlia Barreto Borges (with his first wife, actress Marcia Barreto) who starred in his filmsLuzia Homem (1987),O Quatrilho (1995), andNossa Senhora de Caravaggio (2006).[2]
In an interview withCult magazine, Barreto said his filmLula, o filho do Brasil did not have any political connotations, and gave his opinion about the President: "Lula represents a revolution over the course of Brazilian society, because he is deeply disturbing in a serious thing that has always existed in Brazil, called inferiority complex [...] So, he is responsible for [...] leaving [the elite] actionless, for showing how the 'enlightened' elite is intellectually colonized.Caetano Veloso, when he calls Lula an illiterate, is proving to be a deeply colonized, elitist person. At the same time, you haveObama saying that Lula is 'the man'."[4]
On December 19, 2009, at around 10 p.m. (UTC-3) Barreto was involved in a car accident inBotafogo, a southern neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. According to firefighter Wagner Generoso, a car came too near to the filmmaker's vehicle, which hit a stone wall, flew to another lane and overturned.[5] He was sent to Hospital Miguel Couto inLeblon, where he faced a three-hour surgery that same night, and later transferred to the Hospital Copa D'Or. On the following day, he was submitted to an operation to reduce the brain swelling. He underwent atracheostomy to help him breathe.[6] According to the neurosurgeon Paulo Niemeyer Filho, the director had an acutesubdural hematoma and acontusion in thetemporal lobe on both sides. "The skull's left side was removed and placed in the patient's rib. It will be stored there until it is put back in its place", he said.[5] On March 22, 2010, Barreto was transferred to his house, where his treatment continued.[7]
Several friends of Fábio visited his family in the hospital, such as fellow filmmakersGuel Arraes, andSérgio Rezende,Nossa Senhora de Caravaggio star Cristiana Oliveira,Frei Betto, Glória Pires' husband, singer Orlando Morais,O Quatrilho starPatrícia Pillar, and her husband, former presidential candidateCiro Gomes.[8] President Lula called the Barreto family to provide solidarity and wish Fábio a quick recovery.[9] On February 3, 2010, Barreto left the intensive care unit of the Hospital Copa D'Or, although he remained unconscious.[10] In August 2014 he was reported to be "minimally conscious" and had responded to some stimuli but had yet to fully emerge from his coma.[11]
On November 20, 2019, after 10 years incoma, Barreto died in his house in Rio de Janeiro.[1][2][3]
As actor:[12]
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