Pictures of Ghosts

Play trailer

Pictures of Ghosts

2023

1h 33m

Documentary

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Downtown Recife's classic movie palaces from the 20th century are mostly gone. That city area is now an archaeological site of sorts that reveals aspects of life in society which have been lost. And that's just part of the story.

Sergio Burstein

Los Angeles Times

Armed with abundant archival material... also supported by dramatizations and scripted scenes, Kleber Mendonça Filho recovers essential moments from his artistic training and the development of his craft in Pictures of Ghosts. [Full review in Spanish]

Feb 20, 2024

Full Review

Dmitry Samarov

Chicago Reader

It’s like celestial time travel while rarely leaving one’s childhood block.

Jan 26, 2024

Full Review

Glenn Kenny

RogerEbert.com

A lovely, enveloping film.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 26, 2024

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

One gets the impression Filho could not have turned out anything but a filmmaker, given the endless amounts of footage he has shot over the course of his life, whether he was officially in production on a feature or not.

Apr 1, 2025

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

trans|cendental cinema

Filho deftly blends truth and artifice, documentary and magical realism, to create something uniquely beautiful.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 13, 2024

Full Review

Matías Mora Montero

EscribiendoCine

Pictures of Ghosts captures the essence of Recife and its ghosts, transforming the personal into the universal and demonstrating the power of cinema to immortalize both the living and the dead. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 8/10

Jun 17, 2024

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Director

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Self

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Writer

Emilie Lesclaux

Producer

Dora Amorim

Executive Producer

Pedro Sotero

Cinematographer

King Coal

89%

92%

King Coal

Watchlist

Carpet Cowboys

93%

%

Carpet Cowboys

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Carpet Cowboys

Vishniac

100%

%

Vishniac

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Vishniac

Kim's Video

71%

75%

Kim's Video

Watchlist

Unknown: Cave of Bones

75%

59%

Unknown: Cave of Bones

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Downtown Recife's classic movie palaces from the 20th century are mostly gone. That city area is now an archaeological site of sorts that reveals aspects of life in society which have been lost. And that's just part of the story.

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Producer: Emilie Lesclaux
Screenwriter: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Production Co: Ancine, Vitrine Filmes, CinemaScópio Produções
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Brazilian Portuguese
Runtime: 1h 33m