COMING ATTRACTIONS

The Brazilian film industry is coming under increasing fire at home for abandoning “inherently Brazilian themes and topics” and going Hollywood. At issue is the preservation of the country’s cultural identity and the extra currency that would come from a Brazilian success a la Australia’s “Crocodile Dundee.” Brazilian directors such as Hector Babenco (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”), Miguel Faria, Jr., Arnaldo Jabor and Nelson Pereira dos Santos are at work finishing scripts for films spoken in English and made with foreign money. Co-productions with another country and foreign actors help to sell a Brazilian film abroad, Faria said--yet last year Brazilian movies won a record 17 international prizes.