Victor Cesar Bota

Victor Cesar Bota
Born	Victor Cesar Bota November 7, 1972 São Paulo, Brazil
Occupation	Film Director / Writer / Producer
Years active	2003–present

Victor Cesar Bota (born November 7, 1972), a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter, began his artistic life as a painter and photographer.

Early life

Grandson of the Mexican painter/activist Zaira O’Farill Cesar and the diamond miner Ordácio Bota, who worked with the natives, Bota grew up in Brazil during the steal-fist dictatorship and studied at Colégio Dante Alighieri in São Paulo. In 1985, Bota moved to Rio de Janeiro with his family. There, he befriended Renzo Gracie, who later became the subject and co-producer of his film project. In 1990, 17 year old Bota moved alone to United States. Living on his own, Bota finished high school at the Miami Beach Senior High School and started to work in visual arts. In 1994, Bota started to experiment with filmmaking and briefly studied film at Tisch School of the Arts. "Painting has always been part of my life. My grandmother was a painter, my mother is an architect, so I inherited the love for it, it was natural progression for me. I was painting, photographing, drawing and playing music, when I realized that all my work and experiences could come together in a film format." ^[1]

Career

Bota's short film “Freeman” was co-produced by Fernando Meirelles' O2 Filmes, the markers of City of God and The Constant Gardener, Freeman was a selection of several film festivals including the Brussels Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Montreal Film Festival, Festival de Brasília, Belo Horizonte Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival and Festival do Rio.

His music video "Call My Name" was nominated in the MTV Video Music Brazil Awards and this led to more work directing with Sony | BMG. Such as Wanessa Camargo - Amor Amor, Medulla - Munição na Mamadeira and Forro in the Dark - Nonsensical. Bota directed The Gracies and the Birth of Vale Tudo a promotional documentary film made from the interviews of the research material for the film "Incessant", the film is about the legendary family and the remarkable creation and expansion of Ultimate Fighting Championship around the world. The music was by Mauro Refosco, Forro in the Dark and Ilhan Ersahin and others from Nublu Records. The Gracies and the Birth of Vale Tudo was screened as a work in progress at the São Paulo International Film Festival and Festival do Rio. ^[2]

Filmography

Year	English title	Original title
2014	The Gracies and the Birth of Vale Tudo	Os Gracies e o Nascimento do Vale Tudo
2007	Freeman (2007 film)	Freeman'

References

1. http://www.pressreader.com/australia/renegade-collective/20140901
2. Victor Cesar, Bota. Trip Magazine. http://books.google.com/books?id=9GEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT135&dq=%22Victor+Cesar+Bota%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LW3SU5b5BIyUyAT17IHQDw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Victor%20Cesar%20Bota%22&f=false. External link in |website= (help)