Dilemma

Above: Maya, Bahuan and Raj, the main characters of drama "Caminho das Indias" ("Indian Route" or "The Indian Way") a popular Brazilian telenovela filmed in India, Dubai and Brazil with Brazilian actors. Teaser here and opening here. Due to the enormous immigration and miscegenation in Brazil the country counts with a population exhibiting all sorts of racial features. Apparently, Globo Television seems to be concerned last years in informing the masses via telenovelas about the cultural /religious/ economical aspects of countries with an ancient and complex culture such as China and India - main players of BRIC and direct competitors of Brazil in a new economical order. Caminho das Indias was a huge 2009 success - it seems that feijoada with curry made a good combi ! Actually, Brazilian women sometimes may look like Indian women - so much that they are acting in Bollywood films as you can see in this article from Epoca magazine.

Should I buy a package of products from O GLOBO Television in order to enjoy their wonderful documentaries, comedies and programs for kids ( I pass the novelas, thank you) ? Why not ? My children would get more fluent in Portuguese and probably it would also boost my husbands knowledge of the language .


Above: Brazilian actress Graziella Massafera, star of Negocio da China (China Business).

The risk is... I wll never again peek at Dutch programmes. I have worked hard to understand Dutch and if I dive exclusively into Brazilian programmes there will be no return to Dutch TV.
(Hooray !? Hurrah !?)
Above: "O Clone", starring Giovanna Antonelli as "Jade". Filmed in Brazil and Morocco, it had 221 chapters. Check it for example here. Proof that couscous and churrasco do match well !
Many Brazilian soap operas portrait the Colonial Brazil from centuries ago or are contemporary dramas with the story being partially recorded abroad.

Above: Rubens de Falco and Lucelia Santos in "A Escrava Isaura" (Isaura, The Slave), a 1976 production - a soap about the Brazilian society of mid XIX century, with the divison of landowners/farmers opposite to the slaves. Opening here. Audiences cried so much with the slaves' tortures and Isaura's personal dramas. Some curiosities: the sop opera when broadcasted in Russia made the country incorparate the term "fazenda" (farm) into its vocabulary. When Lucelia and Rubens visited Poland, more people were on the streets than when during the Pope's visit. And the population collected some money in order "to free Isaura" (???). There was cease fire during the war in Bosnia when the soap opera went on air. Actress Lucélia Santos became this huge star in China when "Escrava Isaura" was one of the first Western programs to be shown in the 1970s Popular Republic of China. Many Chinese children were named "Isaula" in her hommage. Lucelia has since the 80's regularly travelled to Chinese countriside making documentaries. Former Brazilian president Frenando Henrique Cardoso took Lucelia with him during his official visit to China, and he was shadowed by Lucelia's charisma.

Above: TV Colosso ("Colossus TV", may also mean something as "TV with a bone", com osso") . Children's programme from the 90's. A new version of it may come back to TV in 2011.

Above: Fatima Bernardes and William Bonner, presentators of Jornal Nacional, 2007. After all these years living in the NL I still miss watching the couple presenting the news on TV. It is 8pm, you have already had your dinner, the kids are asleeping and all you need is relax in the couch hearing to Fatima & William in order to get updates about what's going on in Brazil and the world.

Check how the opening (1'15) of Jornal Nacional is here (with Renato Machado and Sandra Annenberg) or how Fatima and William comment Obama's election here.