Arquivo

One of the principal founders of modern Brazilian cinema and theater, an actor and director of considerable international prestige, Adolfo Celi is here the subject of a biographical documentary. Born in Italy in 1922, Celi came to Brazil in 1949, and, soon after, founded the Teatro Brasileira de Comédia (TBC) and worked with important actors such as Paulo Autran, Tônia Carrero, and Cacilda Becker. He was one of the founders of the historic Cinematográfica Vera Cruz, as producer and director of the company`s first film, Caiçara, of 1950. Before this, in Italy, in 1942, he attended the most important school of drama, the Accademia de Arte Dramaticca, where he was in contact with young actors and directors who revolutionized the history of Italian cinema such as Vittorio Gassman, Alberto Sordi, Federico Fellini, Luciano Salce, amongst others. His first job as an actor was in Un Americano in Vacanza, by Luigi Zampa, in 1945. He became famous the world over with 007 Thunderball, of 1965. He returned to Italy in the sixties and died there in 1986. The documentary includes passages from Celi`s films, hitherto unknown scenes from his personal files, photographs, interviews and statements by Flavia Celi, Alessandra Celi, Ennio Morricone, Alessandro Gasmann, Tônia Carrero, Paulo Autran, Cecil Thiré, Nydia Licia, Odete Lara, and Millôr Fernandes.