Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival continues today with the L.A. premiere of "Paulista"

Maria Clara Spinelli stars in 'Paulista", screening tonight at the HBRFEST.

The 2010 edition of the Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival (HBRFEST) is showcasing the best and latest of Brazilian cinema through February 7.

Today, (Saturday, February 6) is the Los Angeles premiere of the film “Paulista”, featuring award winning transsexual actress Maria Clara Spinelli. Her performance has earned rave reviews in the festival circuit and a best actress award.

Directed by Roberto Moreira, “Paulista” is a movie about dwellers of an apartment building on Paulista Avenue and their respective attempts to find and deal with love. In a case of art imitating life, Spinelli plays Suzana, a buttoned-up lawyer who tentatively opens her heart to another attorney but her lover cannot resolve the fact that Suzana was once a man.

The Desert Sun wrote about Spinelli, “A courageous role… She is not played for shock value. She is not torn about her identity. She is not exploited. She is simply a woman who wants to be loved.”

The festival ends on Sunday with a special open-to-the-public (free admission) retrospective screening of the classic 1962 film by director Anselmo Duarte, "Keeper of Promises" ("O Pagador de Promessas"), the only Brazilian film to win the Palm D’Or at Cannes and the first ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

For the location and schedule of showings, check this previous story