(DIRECTOR) After living nine years in the U.S., where he has directed four feature films, Bruno Barreto went back to his home country of Brazil, in 1996, to direct Four Days in September (O Que é Isso, Companheiro?), nominated for a Best Foreign Film Academy Award®. The experience of shooting in the city in which he was born and raised was so pleasurable that he decided to repeat it.

So he went back for his 14th feature film, BOSSA NOVA, which he describes as a romantic comedy. "Ever since I shot Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos, I'd been wanting to shoot another romantic comedy," says the director. To date, Dona Flor, released in 1976, is still one of the highest grossing films of the history of Brazilian Cinema, with more than 12 million viewers and a successful international career.

With BOSSA NOVA, dedicated to Tom Jobim and François Truffault, Bruno Barreto intends to bring back the Rio de Janeiro of the '60's, a time of affable relations, in which the city's landscapes were celebrated in popular music. It is this Rio he recreated to his wife, actress Amy Irving, who stars the film as the English teacher, Mary Ann.

Bruno Barreto not only acknowledges that BOSSA NOVA is a present to his wife, but he also says it is his way to get back at his adaptation period in the U.S. It's not a coincidence that linguistic misunderstandings and cultural shocks play such an important role in the fast-paced romantic plot of the film, which involves nine characters in search of love, in the stunning "carioca" (i.e., "from Rio") settings.

Bruno Barreto concludes: "I wanted to make a film that would make its viewers' souls lighter, and put as smile to their faces as they leave the movie theater."