UA News

"O Céu de Suely," directed by Karim Ainouz and released in 2006, follows Hermila/Suely as she returns to her Northeastern Brazilian hometown after a failed attempt at making it in the big city of São Paulo. She works odd jobs and eventually decides to raffle herself off in an effort to raise enough money to leave the town again. This film received nominations and awards for best actress, best film and best director by the Havana Film Festival, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and others.  The film will be introduced by Lucy Blaney, a doctoral student in Spanish and Portuguese, who is using this film in her dissertation research on the representations of prostitution in film.  There will be a brief question and answer session and discussion after the film. This presentation is part of Humanities Week at the UA, April 4-13. For a complete listing of all events – free and open to the public – go to the College of Humanities Web site at and click on "Humanities Week 2009."