Very cool arts complex in the center of Belo Horizonte. The space itself is pretty easy to get around, with a well informed front desk/ticket window to help point you in the right direction. There is also a neat Mineiro craft goods store in the front lobby. My visit coincided with an exhibition on the 5th Marcantonio Vilaça award winners and the American Film Showcase. The Vilaça winners weren't really of my taste, but each artist had a unique style that at least made it interesting. It was also free, so that's always a plus. The American Film Showcase was so good, that we decided to come back for a second day. Featuring three films a day, the showcase was a selection of American documentaries, mostly from the past couple years. I saw Keep On Keeping On and Alive Inside and I was blown away by both films. I'm not sure who selected which films to show, but they did an excellent job. The theater is pretty comfortable for being located within an arts complex and again, the tickets were free. There is also a small cafe outside the theater that offered decently priced and tasty snacks. I tried the carne seca sandwich and it was plenty of food for a dinner. If I lived in Belo Horizonte, I would definitely bookmark the schedule of events for the Palacio das Artes and would visit frequently. read more

We really enjoyed the American film series they had going on this week. The museum is free and tickets to the movie are also free. Tickets for the movie are given out half an hour before the film in limited quantity downstairs. They didn't look like they were going to run out but it was for counting purposes and seats were not assigned but they start the movie right on the dot so it's hard to find a seat once they turn down the lights. They had a series of documentaries (subtitled in Portuguese) that won prestigious film festival awards. The first movie was saw was "Keep on Keepin' on," a film about the legendary jazz trumpeter Clark Terry and his mentorship and friendship with a blind boy. It was so good that we returned a few days later for another film, "Still Alive" documenting the therapeutic power of music in the elderly with dementia. They had a more abstract visual art exhibit upstairs which was difficult for me to interpret. There were a few films that also odd but one artist, Berna Reale did a series of short films that were interesting. A take on "Cantando na chuva" dressed in gold with a gas mask dancing on a red carpet rolled out in the center of a huge trash pile. They have a open courtyard below, surrounded by a huge park, a gift shop with a big selection of items, and a cafe downstairs that serves food. A great cultural experience in Belo Horizonte. read more

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We recently went to a concert from Pato Fu here. It's quite common in fact for them to book big acts. The concert room is huge with at least 800 seats I'd say. Excellent acoustics. The drinks and snacks are way overpriced, as expected. read more