RAPHAEL BITTENCOURT AND HIS FILM PRODUCTIONS
Raphael Bittencourt is truly a complete film maker in the broadest meaning of the word. You’ll find below, in this page, information about several projects where Bittencourt was a director, producer or a key player in the production. All of the productions participated in film festivals, many of them collected multiple awards.
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PICTURE NAME: BID
LOGLINE: An American businessman has to kill one of his kids in order to save the rest of the family. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Writer, Director, Producer, Editor. DESCRIPTION: BID is an international production developed in the US, shot in Brazil and post-produced back in the US, in Los Angeles. Raphael worked on the script for one year and started the pre-production still in LA. He took his DP and his principal actor from Los Angeles to Brazil, where they met the rest of the crew and cast for the shooting in the city of Curitiba. It is a 100% independent production that has already participated in 17 film festivals in 6 different countries and received nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Editing, Best Poster Design and Best Actor. It’s is worth mentioning that this short is the prof of concept for a feature film already in development. AWARDS • Worldfest Houston (2018) – Gold Remi – Original Dramatic • Brazil International Film Festival (2018) – Best short • Falcon International Film Festival (2018) – Critic Award • Festigious Film Festival (2018) – Best Editing • Festigious Film Festival (2018) – Honorable Mention Director • Festcine Curta Pinhais (2018) – Best Actor • Festival Brasil de Cinema Internacional (2017) – Honorable Mention Director IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6156016
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PICTURE NAME: The Dress
LOGLINE: Orlando and his two daughters have an argument about the different meanings of love and an unexpected situation will change their lives forever. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Writer, Director, Producer, Editor. DESCRIPTION: The Dress is a short film produced in Los Angeles that has already participated in festivals in the US and in Brazil. With nominations for Best Film and Best Director. One of the festival selections was in the LABRFF (Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival), the most relevant American film festival specialized in films by Brazilians directors or shot in Brazil. Raphael nor only wrote and directed the film but played a key role as the producer and the editor. The poster was also designed by Bittencourt. TESTIMONIALS ABOUT RAPHAEL: “I have been a professional actor for fifty plus years. He was one of the MOST creative and patient directors I have ever had the good fortune of working with on a film project.” David Westberg – Actor in The Dress “Raphael is a friend to all. He creates a close family relationship pre-production, during rehearsals and on set. It was the best experience I have have ever had in that world and I would jump at the opportunity to work with him any day and twice on Sunday!” Teresa Tracy – Actress in The Dress |
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PICTURE NAME: DRY
LOGLINE: Peter wakes up and realizes he has no water nor power at home for the fifth day, the situation will end testing the strength of his relationship with Rose. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Writer, Director, Producer, Editor. DESCRIPTION: DRY is an independent short film about a time, not so far in the future, when clean water and electric power are not cheap nor easy to find commodities anymore. The production explores how the harsh situation affect the most basic human relations and habits. With participations in festivals within the US and in Brazil, not to mention a few private screenings for different audiences, the film has got the attention of the public to important environmental and conservationist topics. Raphael usually brings in relevant social, political and environmental topics into his projects. OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: • 9º Festival de Cinema da Lapa – (Brazil) – 2016 • Los Angeles Cine Fest – (USA) – 2016 • Treasure Coast International Fim Festival (USA) – 2015 • III Festcine Curta Pinhais – (Brazil) – 2015 |
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PICTURE NAME: Absent
LOGLINE: She has lost her soulmate, but he came back for her. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Writer, Director, Producer, Editor. DESCRIPTION: Absent is the name of this short silent noir movie. The film is a disturbing narrative about love, selfishness and, maybe, cowardice, the interpretations possibilities are open. Raphael, besides writing the dark love piece, also assumed the roles of director, producer and editor. Performances from Alina Smolyar and Diego Medellin. The original soundtrack, essencial for the work, was composed by Marco Duboc, Bittencourt’s partner in other projects, such as The Dress and Alegria. As a graduated graphic designer in the 90s, Raphael did fulfilled yet another function in the project, creating the design of the poster. The film has been already screened in a few festival in Brazil. TESTIMONIALS ABOUT RAPHAEL: “He always knows what he’s doing. And it’s a very important for me as an actress, Raphael is open for improvisations. He knows how to open actors for a specific scene. And the most important thing, we always have fun! Alina Smolyar – Actress in Absent |
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PICTURE NAME: Insubordinação
LOGLINE: Gomes, a hit man from a Brazilian mafia, is assigned a mission he cannot complete and now he’s on the run to save himself and the one who should be his victim. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Writer, Director, Producer. DESCRIPTION: Insubordinação is Raphael’s first crime movie. He also produced and directed it. It’s an independent production, shot in Brazil, that brings into a modern gangster movie aspects of the local scenario. The color palete and visual metaphors create additional layers to the acclaimed performance of the actors, particularly Paulo Hey (in memoriam). The film got a few awards and nominations for Best Script, Best Director, Best Film, Best Soundtrack and Best Actor. AWARDS: • Festcine Curta Pinhais (2013) – Best Script • Mostra de Cinema Centro Europeu (2010) – Hors Concours Award OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: • Mostra Internacional de Curtas da Unioeste – (Brazil) – 2010 • Gramado Cinevideo – (Brazil) – 2009 • Festival de Cinema da Lapa – (Brazil) – 2008 |
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PICTURE NAME: Something Has to Die
LOGLINE: Music video for the hard rock band Red Devil Vortex. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor. DESCRIPTION: Something Has to Die is the name of the music video Raphael produced for the hard rock band Red Devil Vortex. This first interaction between Bittencourt and the band helped the musicians launch their first album and make their names hit the Billboard parade for the first time. For this production, besides the musicians in front of his camera, Raphael counted only on himself to direct, produce, light, shoot and edit, a real “one man band stand” in terms of production. WATCH THE VIDEO: Something Has to Die |
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PICTURE NAME: Fosse Recreated
LOGLINE: Kathryn Doby recreates Crunchy Granola, the famous Bob Fosse’s broadway number. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Cinematographer, Editor, Postproduction. DESCRIPTION: Fosse: recreated is a documentary about the recreation of one of the most famous Bob Fosse’s number by his former assistant choreographer and dancer, Kathryn Doby. The film was directed and produced by Wolfgang Glattes, known for his long career in Hollywood and participation dozens of big productions of renowned directors such as Bob Fosse, Robert Benton, Costa Gavras, Sidney Lumet and Polansky among others. Raphael was invited to take over the cinematography of the second half of the shootings and also the whole editing and postproduction stage. The film had a wonderful festival run with great acclamation wherever it was screened. It got several nominations and awards, including for Best Film, Best Direction, Best editing, Best Opening Credits, Best Musical Piece, Best Documentary, Best Cinematography, among others. Raphael was also responsible for the creation of the poster, DVD/Bluray cover and all the supporting graphic materials for the film. AWARDS (for Raphael): • International Independent Film Awards (2017) – Gold Winner Editing • Best Shorts Competition (2017) – Merit: Cinematography • L.A. Shorts Awards (2016) – Best Editing • L.A. Shorts Awards (2016) – Title Sequence |
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PICTURE NAME: Hoje Jesus Não Vem
LOGLINE: Three stories about children and teenagers, in Brazil, and different kind of ways of violations in their rights. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Cinematographer, Producer. DESCRIPTION: Hoje Jesus Não Vem (Jesus Is Not Coming Today) is a film directed by Müller Barone. Raphael’s long time partner, he invited Bittencourt to create the visual concept for the cinematography. Raphael also participated in the refinement of the editing and post production of the piece and made adjustments to the poster art as well. The film is a gruesome representation of some of the true cases of child abuse and exploitation in Brazil. the goal is to shock and alert people to the unfortunately real scenario down there. The film participated in a lot of film festivals with several awards around the world and nominations in different categories. |
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PICTURE NAME: SIM
LOGLINE: A man tormented by the daily chaos suffers to make a decision and discover what is it that lives behind a door. He tries several times, every day, but always gives up. The dilemma or the madness grow inside his mind up to an unbearable point. Can he resist? RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Cinematographer, Producer, Editor, Postproduction. DESCRIPTION: Sim, is another film directed by Müller Barone. Raphael’s, as usually, was invited by Barone, again to create the visual concept for the cinematography. The whole postproduction, including the editing, sound design and color grading was done by Raphael as well. The poster and the film logo design are also Bittencourt creations. |
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PICTURE NAME: Desmemória
LOGLINE: A man and a sudden, but irreversible, memory loss. Are we a set of experiences or only memories may be lost when our brain simply decide? If we lose them, are we alive or not? RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Cinematographer, Producer, Editor, Postproduction. DESCRIPTION: Desmemória, from the Brazilian director Müller Barone is a short film that ran in a few international film festivals already. It is about one of Barone’s recurrent themes, the human psyche mysteries. In this project Raphael was invited to take care of the direction of photography and the post-production where he fine tuned the editing, color graded and produced the final mix down. Raphael was also one of the producers and created the film poster as well. |
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PICTURE NAME: Alegria
LOGLINE: A city, its protagonists and their dramas, joys and sadnesses embodied in an harlequin. RAPHAEL’S ROLES: Cinematographer, Producer, Postproduction. DESCRIPTION: Alegria is the first production in the long list of collaborations between Raphael Bittencourt and the director Müller Barone. Conceived out of a great research about the different kind of clowns throughout the history, the film is a collection of visual metaphors that represent different stages of the human nature. Barone invited Raphael to give shape and color to those metaphors through his lens and keen eye for detail in the post-production and color grading. Alegria was, naturally, also the first time the partnership between the two filmmakers, Bittencourt and Barone, got awarded. The film got the Best Film award in the Cine Al Mar – Santa Marta International Film Festival, in Colombia. A great did if you take into consideration the fact that the independent production had a budget of U$1000 and won over U$80K productions. the film had quite a few participations in many other film festivals around the world with several nominations in different categories and it’s now available for free streaming: Alegria. |