Cult film outfit Spamflix will launch the Cinema of Desire at the Marché International du Film Classique (MIFC) in Lyon, an ambitious restoration project in collaboration with the Cinemateca Brasileira that reclaims a missing piece of Brazilian film history.
The Lisbon-based platform is presenting the 4K restoration of “The Magic Eye of Love” (“O Olho Mágico do Amor,” 1982), the first in a trilogy by Ícaro Martins and José Antonio Garcia, within the MIFC’s Re>Birth program – a showcase for heritage titles seeking restoration and distribution partners.
“This is the first market where we are showing the project, and it’s very special,” Spamflix co-founder Julia Duarte told Variety. “These films were part of a movement that was ahead of its time and emerged from the desire for freedom under the dictatorship in Brazil.”
Set in São Paulo’s seedy Boca do Lixo district, “The Magic Eye of Love” follows Vera, a secretary who discovers a hole in her office wall leading to a neighboring hotel room occupied by a prostitute – a portal that awakens her fantasies and changes her life.
The film, which won several awards, marked the beginning of the so-called Trilogy of Desire, completed by “Onda Nova” (1983) and “Naked Star” (“Estrela Nua,” 1985), with plans to include a fourth film, “The Body” (1991), Garcia’s solo work. All four have been digitized by the Cinematica Brasileira.
The Cinema of Desire project revisits the New Cinema of São Paulo (Novo Cinema Paulista) movement, a short-lived but influential wave of independent filmmaking that emerged in the early 1980s. It grew out of the “pornochanchada” movies – a popular genre at the end of Brazil’s dictatorship blending eroticism and comedy – but rejected their sexist moralism, according to Duarte. “This was something more,” she said. “They gave a voice to women. While they are not that well known, even within Brazil, these films played an important role in Brazilian cinema,” she added, noting that her goal, after this project, is to continue highlighting the work of marginalized Brazilian directors.
Made as Brazil’s dictatorship was losing its grip, these films confronted repression indirectly, turning sensuality into an act of defiance. Duarte sees their work as Brazil’s answer to early [Pedro] Almodóvar, combining the freedom, humor, and the emotional excess of Spain’s Movida Madrileña with Brazil’s own urban and political tensions.
The movement itself was short-lived as local exhibitors favored imported titles and commercial pornography. After the state distributor Embrafilme was dismantled in 1990, national production nearly collapsed, silencing a generation of filmmakers.
The project builds on the momentum of “Onda Nova,” a queer, erotic comedy about female football players challenging prejudice under Brazil’s dictatorship. The film’s 4K restoration premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2024 and went on to screen at festivals across Europe and Latin America. It was released theatrically in Brazil in March this year and has just signed a U.S. distribution deal with Brooklyn-based Muscle Distribution.
“‘Onda Nova’ is exactly the kind of film that Muscle loves: approachable and fun, yet wickedly subversive and genuinely dangerous in its time,” Muscle founder Elizabeth Purchell told Variety. “We’re thrilled to be working with Spamflix to bring it to North American audiences for the first time ever.”
Duarte and her partner Markus Duffner plan to premiere the Cinema of Desire films next year in Brazil, followed by screenings at festivals and cinematheques to coincide with the 20th anniversary of José Antonio Garcia’s death and what would have been his 70th birthday.
For Spamflix, best known as a former VOD platform with a strong focus on cult and avant-garde cinema, Cinema of Desire marks a significant step into the world of film heritage and rights management.
“For us, it’s the same idea.” Duarte explained. “Through our work, we are now also taking care of film heritage, giving visibility to unique works that deserve to be seen again.”
“The Magic Eye of Love” is one of nine films that will be presented as part of the MIFC’s ReBirth program on October 19.
Running alongside the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, the MICC takes place Oct. 14-Oct. 19.
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