“Elizabeth Bishop: from Brazil with Love” delves into the intimate and transformative period that American poet Elizabeth Bishop spent in Brazil from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s. Bishop encountered a profound love with Brazilian architect and urbanist Lota de Macedo Soares, whose vibrant presence and cultural roots brought Bishop into the heart of Brazil’s artistic and social circles. Through a blend of Bishop’s personal letters and poems, rare archival footage, and Bishop’s own voice together with new recordings of her poems by poet Anne Carson, the film constructs a layered portrait of a foreigner captivated by Brazil’s spirit while contending with its complexities and her own vulnerabilities. – Vivian Ostrovsky
Vivian Ostrovsky & Ruti Gadish
USA 2025
67 min | English | 16mm
Vivian Ostrovsky
Born in 1945 in New York. She grew up in Rio de Janeiro and studied film at the Sorbonne in Paris.
Films (selection)
U.S.S.A. 1985 | Nikita Kino 2003 | Fone Fur Follies 2008 (E: Ruti Gadish) | Hiatus 2018 (E: Ruti Gadish) | Elizabeth Bishop: From Brazil with Love 2025
Ruti Gadish
Born in Tel Aviv, Israel. She has worked as an editor for Vivian Ostrovsky. She lives and works between Tel Aviv and Paris.
D+B: Vivian Ostrovsky, Ruti Gadish | DOP: Louise Botkay, Andrea Capella, Vivian Ostrovsky | E: Ruti Gadish | A: Shuli Tager, Daphna Awadish | SD: Benoit Glig | M: Mahut | P: On the Fly, LLC | Voices: Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Carson, Vivian Ostrovsky