Biography

Sylvio Back is a Brazilian filmmaker, poet, screen player, writer and producer. Born in 1937 at the city of Blumenau (Santa Catarina, South of Brazil), son of inmigrants: father Hungarian Jew and mother, German. Former journalist and film critic, he began motion picture direction in 1962. To date he has written, directed and also produced most of his thirty eight films, which includes short and medium-length for TV documentaries, and twelve full-length pics.

Documentaries: "Revolução de 30" (The 1930 Revolution) - 1980; "República Guarani" (Guarani Republic) - 1982; "Guerra do Brasil" (The War of Brazil) - 1987; "Rádio Auriverde" (Radio Brazil) - 1991; "Yndio do Brasil" (Our Indians) - 1995; "O Contestado - Restos Mortais" (The Contestado - Mortal Remains) - 2010; and "O Universo Graciliano" (Graciliano Universe) - 2013.

Feature films: "Lance Maior" (The Highest Bid) - 1968; "A Guerra dos Pelados" (The War of the Skin Heads) - 1971; "Aleluia, Gretchen" (Hallelujah, Gretchen) - 1976; "Cruz e Sousa - O Poeta do Desterro" (The Banished Poet) - 1999; and "Lost Zweig" - 2003. As poet and writer, Back has published twenty five books (poetry, es¬says and ten of his screenplays). 1986 marks the publication of his first book of poems, "O Caderno Erótico de Sylvio Back" (The Erotic Notebook of Sylvio Back), followed by "Moedas de Luz" (Coins of Light, 1988); "A Vinha do Desejo" (Desire's Vi¬neyard, 1994); "Yndio do Brasil" (Poemas de Filme) (Our Indians - film's poems, 1995), "boudoir" (boudoir, 1999), "Eurus" (Eurus, 2004); "Traduzir é poetar às avessas" - Langston Hughes translated) (Translating is writing poetry on reverse - Langston Hughes translated, 2005); "Eurus" (bilingual: Portuguese-English, 2006); "kinopoems" (@-book, 2006); "As mulheres gozam pelo ouvido" (Women come by listening, 2008); "Quermesse" (Kermess, 2014); and "Musas de carne e osso" (Muses of flesh and bone, 2017).

With 77 national and international prizes (Festivals of Brasília, Gramado and Cine-Ceará (Brazil); Cuba, Figueira da Foz (Portugal), Málaga (Spain); and films selected to the festivals of Chicago (EUA), Berlin and Mannheim (Germany), Uruguai, Cinéma du Réel (France), Rotterdam (Holland), Innsbruck (Austria), Mar del Plata (Argentina), Massachusetts (EUA), Sylvio Back is one of Brazil's most awarded filmmakers. Also, his poetry is recognized by the critics as one of the best Brazilian erotic oeuvre.

In 2020, Back received the title of "Doctor Honoris Causa", granted by the Santa Catarina Federal University, for its literature and cinema dedicated to the art and culture of Santa Catarina and Brazil. -
- IMDb mini biography by: Charlotth Back