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‘Fire at Sea’ Producer Donatella Palermo Boards Eryk Rocha’s Buzzy Doc ‘Elza’ Ahead of Rio Film Festival Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Oscar-nominated Italian producer Donatella Palermo has joined Eryk Rocha's highly anticipated documentary "Elza" as a production associate. The film will have its world premiere at the Rio Film Festival before heading to the Rome Film Festival, chronicling the life and seven-decade career of legendary Brazilian singer Elza Soares, regarded as the BBC's "Voice of the Millennium" and a global symbol of artistic freedom and resilience.
The documentary, filmed over eight years, draws on rare archival materials and intimate conversations between Soares and Rocha during the final years of her life, allowing the icon to tell her own story. Soares, who passed away in 2022, collaborated with defining figures in international music including Louis Armstrong, whom she met in Chile in 1962, Ella Fitzgerald, and Astor Piazzolla, transcending genres and national borders to become an enduring symbol of Black women's artistic contributions. The project has backing from prominent production companies including Aruac Filmes, Maria Farinha Filmes, Globo Filmes, and RAI Cinema, with funding from the Brazilian Federal Government and institutional support from the Ministry of Culture.
In short
- Oscar-nominated producer Palermo joins Rocha's documentary about Brazilian music icon Elza Soares
- Eight-year project premieres at Rio Film Festival with rare archival materials and Soares's own voice
- Legendary singer died in 2022; collaborated with Armstrong, Fitzgerald, and Piazzolla
Explained simply
Elza Soares was a Brazilian singer whose career spanned seven decades. Known for moving across musical styles, she became an influential figure in Brazil and beyond, and worked with artists including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Astor Piazzolla.
Director Eryk Rocha’s documentary draws on rare archive material and conversations recorded during the final years of Soares’s life. Soares died in 2022, and the film gives her the chance to tell her own story in her own words.
The film brings together Brazilian and Italian production companies, including Globo Filmes and RAI Cinema. Its subject also offers a way to explore the contribution of Black women to music and the reach of Brazilian culture internationally.