Roberto Farias

Roberto Farias was a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter who started his career in the 1950s as an assistant director and editor. He made his debut as a director in 1957 with the comedy Rico Ri à Toa, starring Zé Trindade. He gained recognition for his 1960 film Cidade Ameaçada, a realistic portrayal of the life of bank robbers in Rio de Janeiro, which won several awards and was praised by critics. He followed with other successful films, such as Assalto ao Trem Pagador (1962), based on a true story of a train robbery, and Toda Donzela Tem um Pai que É uma Fera (1966), a comedy with Leila Diniz. In the late 1960s, he directed a trilogy of musical films with the singer Roberto Carlos, which were very popular among the young audience. He also founded the production company R.F.Farias, which produced films by other directors, such as Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Glauber Rocha. In the 1970s, he directed some of his most acclaimed works, such as Pra Frente, Brasil (1982), a political thriller about the repression and torture during the military dictatorship, and O Fabuloso Fittipaldi (1973), a documentary about the Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi. He also worked in television, directing miniseries and programs for Rede Globo. He was the president of the National Film Industry Union and the first director of Embrafilme, the state-owned film company. He was married to the producer Lucy Barreto, with whom he had four children, all of them involved in the film industry. He died in 2018, at the age of 86, after a long battle with cancer. He is considered one of the most important and influential figures of Brazilian cinema.