PRESS RELEASE

 

REVIEWS & PRESS INTERVIEWS MAY 2004

Following the WORLD PREMIERE of

GIRLS FROM IPANEMA

on April 18, 2004

at the Palm Beach International Film Festival (Florida USA)

 

Girls From Ipanema

 

The screenings of Girls From Ipanema were highly popular with film-makers, the jury, critics, press and the audience - with a keen Brazilian following as well! Great reviews were written by David Poland in The Hot Button, Neusa Martinez of ArcheiUSA & Brazil on TV, and Brandon Judell for Yahoo movie news and Indiewire:

 

YAHOO MOVIE NEWS & INDIEWIRE REVIEW

Palm Beach Film Festival report by Brandon Judell (4 May 2004);

"The lovely Wendy Dent's "Girls from Ipanema" looks like a travelogue that's escaped from the E! Channel. Nonstop, gals and gents in teeny bathing suits, with just as little on their minds, kiss, walk, sing, and brown on Brazil's infamous beaches. Watch while wearing sunscreen!".

 

Email from ANDREW DRAFFEN,

Author of THE LONELY PLANET BRAZIL:

"I had been meaning to write and tell you again how much I enjoyed the film. For someone who'd never been there before, you really gave an accurate insight into the lifestyles of those Ipanema girls. You also captured the beach culture there in a serious yet humorous way, something not all film-makers and writers can do. Great music too! "

 

 

THE HOT BUTTON REVIEW

by David Poland (20 April 2004);

 

" Wendy Dent is a lanky young documentary filmmaker who you will probably hear from sooner than later. She is here at the Palm Beach International Film Festival premiering her second documentary in two years, Girls From Ipanema, a doc about women in Brazil and the life of the beach. She was here last year with Kissed By A Crocodile, a doc that takes a look at love and sex in Bali. Later this year, Dent will release Dear Juliet, a look at romance in Italy. In other words, she is working hard, producing a lot of interesting work, getting better each time at bat and well on her way to the intersection of her hard work and some good luck.

Girls From Ipanema, which is being promoted here in Palm Beach with a lot of shots of girls in bikinis and less, starts by focusing on the wardrobe. But it turns out to be more than that. Body parts are everywhere. But there is an interesting sense of the women not feeling objectified by their near-nudity. There is something so brazen about it all that the focus shifts to the next step in the conversation. The original "Girl From Ipanema" is now in her 50s and appearing nude in Brazilian Playboy with her daughter. Toplessness is illegal on the beaches of Rio. Men frequently leave relationships so they can engage in meaningless and apparently boundary-free sexual encounters during Carnival. The size of the bikini bottom is a constant conversation of both morality and history. The Brazilian preference for "A" over "T" is discussed. The beauty of the Brazilian figure, on the world stage, is discounted for being too fleshy, however exposed. And then there is the undercurrent of possible violence in the streets of Rio.

I can't say that I know exactly what Girls From Ipanema wants to say. The use of the plural is probably indicative of that ambiguity. But after watching it, I felt like I had been given the chance to have a nice, long conversation with some young women from a very different culture about the world in which they live. Surely, Sheila Nevins would be happier with the film if the girls all took off their bikinis from Ipanema at some point or offered lurid tales of sex on the beach. (One of the young women points out that a lot of people do have sex on the beach, but she considers it unhygienic.)

Wendy seems to be the kind of free spirit that is used to carrying the load and doing things on her own. Her energy at festival Q&As is manic, which you quickly realize is enthusiasm. She is in her 20s, and still has that really young energy. You get the feeling that she is rushing to taste every flavor in the world, anxious to find her favorites before he enthusiasm fades. Her website takes you through her personal journey, so you'll be able to keep an eye on her… as well as many of the bikinis of her film. "

 

 

 

ACHEIUSA REVIEW & INTERVIEW

by Neusa Martinez (Brazil on TV)

-In English

- em Portugues

 

 

Palm Beach International Film Festival opening night & 'Girls From Ipanema' director portrait session by Ray Mickshaw

 

FULL NEWS RELEASE; Film festival success of

Girls From Ipanema

& Kissed By A Crocodile

 

 

 

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