armando mendz

Armando Mendz
”Brazilian Hands”
(Three short programs for TV BRASIL – 2008)
Direction
Three a minute documentaries show the craftwork process of trhee saints images creation – Saint John, Saint Peter and Saint Anthony. Shooted in Ouro Preto and Campo das Vertentes, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

“5 Pieces of Almost a Story”
(Ficcion, feature film, 95 minutes, 35 mm, 2007)
Collective project – Co-direction and film editing
An obsessive photographer crazy for female feet; a man that projects himself on situations he sees on tv; a simple public officer that receives a proposal from a corrupt Judge; a slaughter in a marriage crisis and a broken heart secretary that dreams to get married. These five characters will have their lives changed from a hot weekend.
. Special Jury Prize – CINE-PE 2007
. Best Designer Production – CINE-PE 2007
. Best Script – 12th Brazilian Film Festival – Miami – EUA

“Dead End”
(Documentary, long-lenght, 75 minutes, HD, 2007)
Collective project – Conception, General Coordination and Co-direction
A documentary, eight directors and six episodes taken in natural and urban settings, which proposes an anthropological journey through the cities and the lives of the communities along the railways. The trains as conductors of history ant the tracks as a line in time. A registry of the past by means of the memories and an observation of contemporary space taken from daily living and by the transformation of places provoked by the presence or disappearance of the train.
. Special Jury Prize – 56º Mannhein-Heidelberg Film Festival – 2007- Germany
. Best Latinamerican Documentary – Docúpolis – 2007 – Barcelone (Spain)

“The Amanuensis and the Grasshoppers”
(Documentary, medium-length, 54 minutes, DV, 2003)
Co-direction and screenwritten
The documentary “The Amanuensis and the Grasshoppers” tells the life and literary work of brazillian writter Cyro dos Anjos and his companions in the literary journey, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Pedro Nava, Abgar Renault, João Alphonsus e Emílio Moura.

“Secos & Molhados”
(Documentary, medium-length, 54 minutes, DV and 16mm, 2001)
Direction and filme editing
The documentary shows the journey of a merchant boat in a rural area along the banks of the São Francisco River. Habits, beliefs and part of the culture of the riverside population are show through the boat and also through the relationships established on it.
. Awarded in the 2nd Documentaries Concourse of Culture Ministry, 1999
. Best Video by the Popular Jury in 4th Tiradentes Festival, Brazil, 2001

“Água Benta, Fé Ardente; Água Ardente, Fé Benta”
(Documentary, short-movie, DV e Super-8, 7 minutes, 1999)
Co-direction, cinematography and film editing
The documentary shows a religious ritual in wich one real-size image of Jesus Christ is washed with “cachaça” (a brazilian alcoholic beverage made of sugar cane). After the bath, this cachaça is collected and drunk by the followers who believe the beverage had acquired miraculous powers.
. Special Prize of Jury in the Rio de Janeiro Festival, Brazil, 1999
. Best Documentary in the 3rd Mostra MIS de Vídeo (SP), 1999
. PBest Video by the Popular Jury in 3rd Tiradentes Festival, Brazil, 2000