Brazilian Fantastic and Horror film festival co-founder Otávio Lima is motivated by dystopia. He tells HFPA journalist Ana Maria Bahiana that a lot of films that were submitted to the festival – first in the country – bring attention to current events in Brazil.

“There is no trouble to find inspiration here, just read politics sessions in the newspaper. Even before COVID-19 Brazil was dystopic, the COVID crisis, it’s just the cherry on the mayhem cake. Dystopian films are a way to express concern, bring attention, or mock these things in some way.”

The first time he remembers being frightened happened when he was eight or nine. “I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street on TV. It might have been Nightmare on Elm Street 2 or 3 or 4 I don’t know. I did not sleep for days, thinking Freddy was coming for me.”

He underlines that his parents didn’t know about that. “I don’t blame them. They were in the same room as I, but they were asleep, in their defense. I was watching it without them knowing.”

That triggered him to follow the fantasy and horror genre. “After this trauma in my teen years, I was into fantasy films, and The Lord of the Rings made quite an impression on me. Later, I discovered the apocalyptic dystopian Mad Max, then Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. Then I had some Walking Dead years too. So I was building this since the Freddy Krueger childhood trauma. And I developed this taste that started with this mistake while watching A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

A film booker, content curator, and marketing manager, Lima plans to keep the Brazilian Fantastic and Horror festival alive and support the budding local scene of fantasy/horror movies.

Listen to the podcast and hear why a local VHS store played an important part in his childhood; what kind of memory he has from seeing Titanic in a movie theatre when he was six years old; why E.T. is associated with his home city, Varginha; how he hopes to change the way people watch and react to cinema; how has Brazilian cinema changed from the 1970s to present day; how he sees the future of fantastic cinema in Brazil; how Metallica inspired him; which filmmakers he admires now; and what is he doing next.