Brazil Begins Three Days of Mourning After Luiz Carlos Barreto, Its Legendary Film Producer, Dies at 98

Barreto is hailed by Brazilian President Lula Inácio Lula da Silva as ‘the most important producer in Brazilian cinema over the last 50 years’  

Luiz Carlos Barreto, one of the driving forces of the Cinema Novo movement in the 1960s and 1970s, died in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, July 22, at the age of 98.

In reaction – and it’s a measure of the huge regard with which Barreto was held in his native Brazil and beyond – Brazilian President Lula Inácio Lula da Silva declared July 22 three days of national mourning in his honor, which means the national flag will be flown at half-mast. 

Barreto’s health has been in frail condition since March 2024, when he suffered a fall. The official cause of death is pneumonia.

Barreto is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Brazilian cinema, with a career spanning six decades. He was involved in more than 80 productions, and was closely associated with the avant-garde Cinema Novo movement, which rocked Cannes and beyond in the 196os and early 1970s, signalling a future for cinema, in the eyes of French Nouvelle Vague leading lights.

Born in 1928 in the Northeastern Ceará State, Barreto moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1947 at the age of 19, and worked as a photographer for the important newsmagazine O Cruzeiro. At an interview in 1952, he met Lucy Vilella, then beauty queen of Miss Goias State and a notable pianist. The two got married two years later, and became lifetime partners, including in film production.

In further work as a photographer in 1961, Barreto visited in Bahia the set of “Barravento” the first feature of Glauber Rocha, who would become the leading figure of Cinema Novo. Rocha encouraged Barreto to make his debut as co-screenwriter and co-producer of Roberto Farias’ “Assalto ao Trem Pagador” (1962). Next, he worked as the cinematographer on Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ classic “Barren Lives” (Vidas Secas) (1963).

Barreto founded in 1963 L.C. Barreto Produções Cinematográficas, the longest-running film production company in Brazil. Together with Lucy Barreto, they made over 80 features, which take in many of the great films of the Cinema Novo such as Joaquim Pedro de Andrade’s “Garrincha: Joy of the People” (Garrincha, Alegria do Povo) (1963), Roberto Santos’ “The Hour and Turn of Augusto Matraga” (“A Hora e a Vez de Augusto Matraga”) (1965), Joaquim Pedro de Andrade’s “The Priest and the Girl” (“O Padre e a Moça”) (1966), Glauber Rocha’s “Entranced Earth” (“Terra em Transe”) (1967) and “Antonio das Mortes” (“O Dragão da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro”) (1969) and Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ “How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman” (“Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês”) (1971).

As Brazil’s Cinema Novo disolved under military dictatorship, L.C. Barreto still managed to make films, such as Cacá Diegues’ main Cannes competition contender “Bye Bye Brazil” (“Bye Bye Brasil”) (1979) and Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ “Memoirs of Prison” (Memórias do Cárcere) (1984).

The three children of Luiz Carlos and Lucy Barreto inherited the passion for cinema. Bruno Barreto is a renowned director, with features such as classic “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” (Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) (1976), one of the biggest box office hits in Brazil, and “Four Days in September” (“O Que É Isso, Companheiro?”) (1997), nominated for a then Foreign Language Oscar. He also had a career in Hollywood. Fábio Barreto, who died in 2019, helmed “O Quatrilho” (1995), also a Foreign Language Oscar-nominee, and “Lula, the Son of Brazil” (“Lula, o Filho do Brasil”) (2009). Producer Paula now serves as CEO of L.C. Barreto, still a leading production company in Brazil.

“The greatest legacy my father leaves me is the person he was. He used to say, ‘My party is the party of Brazilian cinema.’ He always opened channels of dialogue in support of Brazilian cinema,” Paula Barreto told Variety. 

She added: “When ‘Dona Flor’ was being butchered by the censors [during the dictatorship in Brazil], he got on a plane, spent a week in Brasilia, and convinced the [dictator Ernesto] Geisel’s wife and daughter to watch the film and defend it.”

In a social media post, Lula highlighted Barreto’s importance to Brazilian culture, announcing the official three-day mourning period in recognition of the filmmaker’s contribution: “Brazilian cinema owes a great deal to Luiz Carlos Barreto, who left us this Wednesday. His love for Brazil, his talent and, above all, his restless spirit made him the most important producer in Brazilian cinema over the last 50 years.”

Luiz Carlos Barreto is survived by Lucy Barreto; his children, Paula and Bruno, and nine grandchildren: Julia, Mariana, Lucas and João, Fábio’s children; Helena, Olympia and Gabriel, Bruno’s children; and Camilla and Felipe, Paula’s children. Most of his grandchildren have at some point worked at LC Barreto.