

The queen of Brazilian song turns 50 years of chaos into pure intimacy—and you're invited to her living room.
Celebrating 50 years of her career, Maria Bethânia filmed in Brazil in 2105 the show Abraçar e Agradecer, which now comes out on CD and DVD.
Acting
Bethânia's presence—part oracle, part exhausted aunt.
Direction
Bia Lessa strips arena spectacle down to raw communion.
Sound
Every breath, chair creak, audience sniffle preserved.
Director
Bia Lessa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This filmed 2015, but released 2016—making it a time capsule of pre-crisis Brazil, when artists could still gather crowds without political subtext swallowing the art.
Bia Lessa—primarily a theater director—treats the concert as a theatrical text, with Bethânia's body as set design and her voice as lighting.