Over the past few years, Brazilian movies have made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious in the world. Many observers will recall the cast and crew of nominated drama Aquarius using the red carpet to protest the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff—denouncing to the international media what they believed was a coup in progress in Brazil. But political displays are far from the only reason why movie critics are looking more closely to the country—as this year has shown.
The Brazilian picture The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão snatched the top prize at the Un...