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Brazilian master filmmaker Lúcia Murat is coming to the 29th Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival. Murat, who will receive the Bilge Olgaç Achievement Award at the festival’s opening ceremony, will also be honoured with a special retrospective showcasing her work.
As Türkiye’s first women’s film festival, the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival is preparing to celebrate a landmark moment in its 29th edition. Organized by the Flying Broom Foundation and taking place from 2–7 June 2026 at Kült Kavaklıdere in Ankara, the festival will welcome Lúcia Murat, one of the leading figures of Brazilian cinema and a powerful symbol of resistance against dictatorship.
As part of this special programme, presented with the support of the Embassy of Brazil, Murat will receive the Bilge Olgaç Achievement Award at the festival’s opening ceremony on 2 June. During her stay in Ankara, she will also introduce the three films featured in her retrospective programme and give a masterclass as part of the festival’s events.
Beginning her career as a journalist and founding her own production company in the early 1980s, Lúcia Murat went on to become one of the most influential figures in Brazilian cinema. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she has directed nearly twenty feature films.
As a university student, Murat became involved in the revolutionary movement that opposed Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964–1985). She was imprisoned and subjected to torture during this period, experiences that would later become a recurring focus of her filmmaking. This difficult past shaped her artistic vision, placing themes such as collective memory, breaking silence, and resistance to oppression at the centre of her work.
Murat has also spoken about how her activist background helped her confront the sexism and misogyny prevalent in the Brazilian film industry during the 1980s. Her films have been selected by some of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including Toronto, Berlin, and Sundance.
On 3 June, Murat will give a masterclass at Kült Kavaklıdere, where she will share insights into her creative process, discuss her films, and reflect on her experiences with audiences in Ankara and emerging filmmakers.
Mapping Resistance
The festival programme includes a three-film retrospective showcasing different periods of Murat’s career and reflecting her distinctive approach to both cinema and social issues.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, How Nice to See You Alive (Que Bom Te Ver Viva, 1989) stands against collective amnesia through the testimonies of women who, like Murat herself, survived torture under Brazil’s military dictatorship. Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival, Memories They Told Me (A Memória Que Me Contam) offers an ironic portrayal of a group of former activists confronting the tension between the utopian ideals of their past and the realities of the present.
Murat’s most recent film, Playtime (Hora do Recreio), blends documentary and fiction to explore contemporary Brazil through the perspectives of young people aged 14 to 19. The film received the Youth Jury Award in the Generation 14plus section of the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival.
The Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival invites all lovers of cinema and culture to take part in this intercultural encounter and engage with the remarkable testimony of Lúcia Murat.
29th Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival
Date: 2–7 June 2026
Location: Ankara
