Giovanni Bello

photographer, filmmaker, journalist
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Photography
Se murió Fidel
Un Paese
Portraits
Dislocations
Rhymes
Figure

JournalismA Raposa
January 8th
BBC World Service
Commissioned work
TV Folha
Dance films
Presence of Absence
Now then now
Requiem for Clouds
Marble

Presence of Absence

June 2024
Presence of Absence is a dance film that explores “saudade,” the bittersweet Brazilian feeling of longing and nostalgia. Through a single performer embodying both the one who feels saudade and saudade itself, the film traces the emotional journey of memory, loss, and acceptance. Interwoven with interviews from the filmmaker’s family, it reflects on how saudade shapes the body, turning absence into a quiet, enduring presence in life. 


Director: Branca Peixoto
DOP: Giovanni Bello
Dance Film Performance: Vivian Guyrá
Styling: Dove Che
Soundtrack: Fernando Machado and André Borges 
Mastering: André MagalhãesShown at the collective exhibition La Hora Loca.
The Good Rice gallery, London, March 2025.

The film was selected for the Artist Archive Film Night.
Siobhan Davies Studios, London, January 2026.