Brazil
In-depth Interviews
Brazil’s big beautiful – and still illegal – balloon-making culture

From centuries old traditions Balloon-making developed into a competition between dedicated groups to create the biggest and most beautiful balloons which were released into the sky carrying lights and often fireworks, and then…

Reviews
Power Alley (Levante- 2023) by Brazilian director Lillah Halla

Lillah Halla is emerging as the new kid on the block in Brazil with her opera prima, Levante (Power Alley) that questions Brazilian politics and feminist freedoms and has already garnered no fewer than 8 wins and 8 nominations at…

Obituaries
We Love Sergio Mendes

Sergio Mendes may not have been the main originator of bossa nova - one of the most innovative musical movement of the 20th Century - he may not have been the most talented musician to come out of Brazil, but he became the most…

Reviews
Brazilian film ‘BABY’, by Marcelo Caetano to be screened at the BFI London Film Festival 2024 for the 63rd ‘Semaine de la Critique’ at Cannes 2024

“I did not run away from home; they ran away from me”. After two years and barely 18, Wellington emerges from a youth detention centre to find his family have disappeared. Lost and homeless in the streets of São Paulo, he meets…

Reviews
Made in Brasil

Amaranta Wight revisits London’s iconic award-winning Brazilian restaurant in Camden – a much-needed tropical oasis that is still going strong after 20 years.

Things That Matter To
Things That Matter… Jards Macalé

Having worked with some of the biggest names in Brazilian music, including Joao Donato, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso and more, Jards Macalé has garnered status as one of the most influential samba and tropicalia artists. Macalé’s…

Reviews
Black Horses Are Massive - A Striking Tribute and Work of Power

Black Horses Are Massive, written by Bárbara Esmenia Rãé, showed as a reading for one night only at the Royal Court as part of their International Programme. Set in a Brazilian prison, this play was written in response to the…

Culture Guides
A Timeline of Greatness - Musical Anniversaries to Celebrate in 2024

Here at LatinoLife, whilst nurturing up-and-coming artists, we never forget on whose should we stand and who we have to thank for the rich tapestry of sounds that we’ve inherited. This year in particular we look forward to some…

Latin Londoners
Latin Londoner #48 - Gustavo Nenao, street artist

Gustavo Bordin (akak Gustavo Nenao) is a Brazilian street artist who has developed works in three continents and 42 countries and was the only Brazilian to join the selected group of artists chosen by the former U.S. first lady…

Obituaries
We Love...Gal Costa

Endowed with a charismatic and exquisite voice filled with stylistic delights, Maria da Graҫa Costa Penna Burgos (better known as Gal Costa) was a native of Salvador, Bahia. Along with Maria Bethania, she was one of the primary…

Features
Pele & Maradona: Contrasting Greatness

Among the claims to football greatness, those of Pele and Maradona, who died within just over two years of each other, will endure as a contrast in character and iconography, defining between them the developing story of modern…

Obituaries
The Wonderful World of Tim Maia

Back in the 1970s the deep velvety voice of Tim Maia sparked a revolution in Brazilian mainstream culture that went well beyond music, igniting the rise of the Black Rio movement. His bassy tone, resembling that of his funk and…

Opinion
Taking Selfies with Shotguns: Transcending Violence in Bolsonaro’s Brazil

Luis Octavio dos Santos Gouveia Junior reflects on the bittersweet experience of returning to his native Brazil after seven years. He argues that, in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, guns have expanded from being an instrument of self-…

Opinion
Bolsonaro Turns Queen’s Funeral into Election Rally

The Brazilian President's attendance at The Queens funeral had everything to do with politics and little to do with grief, argues Clorrie Yoemans

Obituaries
Remembering João Gilberto

When we think of bossa nova, the revolutionary music that catapulted the evocative sound of Brazil onto the global stage, with think of João Gilberto, who gave voice to the extraordinary songs such as 'Desfinado',…

Culture Guides
Films to Watch Before You Die #7 – “The Motorcycle Diaries" by Walter Salles

Guevara Before Che – An expedition for Socialism across 1950s Latin America and the making of a revolutionary

Reviews
Madame Satã - A Gem from the Archives

The debut feature of celebrated Brazilian writer/director Karim Aïnouz, ‘Madame Satã’ was selected from the BFI archives for the 2022 BFI Flare Film Festival. Based on real events, this film reveals the unusual and dramatic life…

In-depth Interviews
Bebel Gilberto: Mother of Bossa Electronica

Being daughter to the legendary Joao Gilberto was quite a shadow to step out of. But over a remarkable 40-year career of her own, the multi-Grammy nominated and winning singer Bebel Gilberto became her own star with compositions…

Reviews
‘FOGARÉU’ (2022) directed by Flávia Neves

“When a baby is born it is thrown into the air, if it flies it is a bat, if it falls it is a fool”. ‘Fogaréu,’ is the story of a wealthy Brazilian family that interweaves overt class struggles with intimate family strife in wild…

Culture Guides
Films To Watch Before You Die #4 - O’ Desafio (The Challenge) Dir. Paulo César Saraceni

A PLACE FOR POETS – O’ Desafio (The Challenge) of living in a Society that you don’t understand. Once again, the 4th film in our series of “Latin American films you should watch before you die” explores the topics of love and…

Features
Brazilian women in London share experiences of gendered violence

As the rates and intensity of violence against women dramatically rose globally over lockdown, Gil, a Brazilian woman in London who has suffered domestic violence, tells her story of being denied support from emergency services.…

Latin Londoners
Latin Londoner #43: Vinicius de Carvalho, Director, King's Brazil Institute

Born in Barra Mansa, Brazil, Vinicius de Carvalho is Director of University of London’s King’s Brazil Institute. He is also Vice-Dean International for the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy at King’s College, and Reader…

Things That Matter To
Things That Matter to...Luiz Morais

Composer, arranger and 7-string guitarist Luiz Morais was born in Fortaleza, Brazil. Based in London since 201, the 32 year-old Brazilian is a unique voice in contemporary Jazz guitar and a virtuoso performer. Graduated in…

In-depth Interviews
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão (2019) Directed by Karim Aïnouz.

‘THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF EURIDICE GUSMÃO’ (2019) is a dramatic melodrama that delves into how family bonds and betrayals can affect people’s lives for years. Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, Eurídice, 18, and Guida, 20, are two…

Opinion
Brazil: Independence Celebrations Mark a Day of Divisions, over Unity

Clorrie Yeomens reflects on the trauma and mixed feelings that Brazilian Independence Day conjures up for many Brazilians

Obituaries
Clara Nunes, A Guerreira.

Some consider Clara Nunes to be the greatest samba and MPB singer of her generation. She was the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies of a record,with "Tristeza Pé No Chão" and her achievements…

In-depth Interviews
Maya Da-Rin, award-winning Brazilian film director of ‘The Fever’ (2019)

“They don’t know how to look into dreams, they have big eyes but they only see what is in front of them.” Brazilian filmmaker Maya Werneck Da-Rin is a bubbly, energetic, resourceful and creative person with a huge talent. Moved…

Reviews
‘THE FEVER’ (A Febre -2019) by Brazilian director Maya Da-Rin -

“Like a hunter with no prey”- The multi-award winning ‘THE FEVER’ has a haunting, dreamy quality. We are immediately immersed in the quiet, alienated world of the protagonist, who is surrounded by an environment dominated by…

Things That Matter To
Things That Matter to...Amaro Freitas

From the slums of Recife in Brazil's North-East to international jazz icon, Amaro Freitas has earned the music world's attention for "an approach to the keyboard so unique that it's startling" (Downbeat…

Features
Latin America Criminalises Mining Protest

All over Latin America mining protest is being criminalised by government legislation. Protestors in Andalgalá, Argentina are arrested and beaten, while in Brazil the Munduruku are fighting Anglo American, financed by US…

Features
Que Vivan 'Los Turcos': Latin America's Arab connection

Last year, when the crisis in Colombia coincided with the Israeli incursion into Gaza, Colombian and Latino social media platforms were awash with calls for solidarity with Palestinians, after the distressing scenes of the…

Obituaries
Remembering Luiz Melodia

A Carioca God of music, Brazil's black Orpheus, a master of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB); Luiz Melodia was like a rhapsode, always absorbing what was happening in the universe of music at that moment condensing rock,…

Things You Should Know About...
Latin Jazz Next Gen

Unlike other music, Jazz musicians get better with age. In Jazz linguistics, at 40, you’re a toddler just starting to talk! The following artists have pricked up our ears with their exciting new sounds. Both blessed and burdened…

Features
The Amazon: Biden and Bolsonaro's no- deal

The United States and Brazil have been conducting closed door negotiations to broker an Amazon rainforest protection agreement — with the U.S. and other nations tentatively to provide significant funding, and Brazil possibly…

Brazilian
Luciana Berry's Picanha Assada

Are you ready for barbecue days? We are! (despite the freezing this spring). This video recipe is from Brazilian Chef Luciana Berry is a delicious tweak to cook up Brazilian’s favourite beef cut. Luciana Berry is a Le Cordon…

Latest Content

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jessica
Film & Theatre
Jessica Maria Gilhooley, actor, filmmaker

Since graduating from the prestigious Drama Centre this British-Colombian Actor has appeared in…

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gabriela
Arts and Culture
CRASHING THE BALL: Gabriela Garcia. Actor. Writer

Born in Mexico, Gabriela García was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as…

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cenote
Food
El Cenote: Mexican Food Done Incredibly Well

Calling all Mexican food enthuisaists! Think deliciously fresh guacamole paired perfectly with the…

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Top 10 Argentine Footballers

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Ballads and Boleros
LatinoLife's Favourite Mexican Male Singers of all Time

Since the days when Mexico was a serious rival to Hollywood in terms of film production and quality…