The great voyages to the "New World" were seen as expanding the frontiers of the visible and displacing those of the invisible. Therefore maps from that time render the real and imaginary. The film follows a voyage of the Brazilian Military in search of an imaginary island with the same name as their country. In the myth from 1483 Brazil, or Hy-Brazil, is known to exist to the west of Ireland and above the Fortunate Islands. ‘Visão do Paraíso’ is an examination of the capacity of the human imagination and computer simulations to construct environments. Amidst the fine threshold of the real, simulated, and imagined, the film analyzes the contemporary ideas of virtual reality and their ambition to expand the frontiers of the physical world into a "New World."

FESTIVAL EXHIBITIONS

- BFI London Film Festival; London, United Kingdom 2022
- International Film Festival Rotterdam; Rotterdam, Netherlands 2023
- True/False Film Festival; Columbia, United States 2023
- Glasgow Short Film Festival [Bill Douglas Intl. Short Film Competition]; Glasgow, Scotland 2023
- Onion City Experimental Film Festival; Chicago, United States 2023
- Athens International Film and Video Festival; Athens, United States 2023
- California Institute of the Arts; Valencia, United States 2023
- Moviate Underground Film Festival; Harrisburg, United States 2023
- Mammoth Lakes Film Festival; Mammoth Lakes, United States 2023
- Vienna Shorts Film Festival [FIDO Competition]; Vienna, Austria 2023
- Brooklyn Film Festival; Brooklyn, United States 2023
- Philadelphia Latino Film Festival; Philadelphia, United States 2023
- Oak Cliff Film Festival; Dallas, United States 2023
- Festival ECRÃ; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2023
- Guanajuato International Film Festival; Guanajuato, Mexico 2023
- Melbourne International Film Festival; Melbourne, Australia 2023
- DokuFest; Prizren, Kosovo 2023
- Mimesis Documentary Festival [Opening Film]; Boulder, United States 2023
- Bogota Experimental Film Festival; Bogotá, Colombia 2023
- Goiânia Mostra Curtas; Goiânia, Brazil 2023
- St. Moritz Art Film Festival; St. Moritz, Switzerland 2023
- Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival; Bucharest, Romania 2023
- Revolutions per Minute Festival; Boston & Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 2023
- Ivano-Frankivsk International Short Film Festival 4:3; Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine 2023
- Tacoma Film Festival; Tacoma, USA 2023
- edoc - Encuentros del Otro Cine Festival International de Cine Documental; Quito, Ecuador 2023
- DTLA Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA 2023
- Antimatter [Media Art]; Victoria, Canada 2023
- Uppsala Short Film Festival ; Uppsala, Sweden 2023
- Light Matter; Alfred USA 2023
- Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin; Paris, France 2023
- Montreal International Documentary Festival 2023
- Porto/Post/Doc - Cinema Falado Competition 2023
- Beijing International Short Film Festival; Beijing, China 2023
- Slamdance; Park City and Salt Lake City, USA 2024
- Chicago Latino Film Festival, Chicago, USA 2024
- Cosmic Rays; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA 2024
- Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin - Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Berlin, Germany 2024
- Moviate Underground: Best Short Films of 2023; Harrisburg, USA 2024
- The Film-Makers' Cooperative: New Year/New Work Film Festival; New York, USA 2024
- Winnipeg Underground Film Festival; Winnipeg, Canada 2024

AWARDS/MENTIONS

- Best Experimental Film Award at Brooklyn Film Festival; Brooklyn, United States 2023
- Honorable Mention Award at Onion City Experimental Film Festival; Chicago, United States 2023

WORDS

“Leonardo Pirondi questions human perception and the possibilities of expanding our gaze beyond the realm of the physical, objective world.” — Alonso Aguilar

“The phantom island Hy-Brazil, believed to be located in the west of Ireland, triggers this meditation on the links between the great expeditions carried out during the 15th century and VR designers setting their sites on expanding and controlling a virtual "new world". Using interviews, old maps, drawings, technological gadgets and computer simulation, Leonardo Pirondi tackles issues concerning the visible and the invisible, the role of imagination, and the Jupiterian expansion of physical frontiers.” — Cristina Álvarez López

“The search for a mythical island triggers a fascinating contemplation on historical expeditions and the worlds of virtual reality and AI.
Is what we observe real or imagined? In this hypnotic formal collage of old maps, drawings, found footage and computer simulation, the search for the phantom island of Hy-Brasil leads to an exploration of human knowledge, colonialism and the expansion of frontiers—from the great expeditions of the past to our recent expansion into simulated technological worlds.” — Melbourne International Film Festival

“[…] The tension between the real and unreal is consistently intensified by the filmmaker’s well-conceived tricks on the perception of the viewers, which often expose Baudrillard’s views on a simulative character of the reality and uphold a feeling of peculiar comfort amongst confusion and various states of visual delusions. The everlasting human urge for utopian perfection has been combined with the limitations of our own eyes and brains that are cleverly confronted with the shadows of the manipulative side of technology." — Aleksandra Ławska

"The Brazilian military sets sail in search of an island named “Brazil.” Turns out it’s an imaginary island, a so-called “phantom island,” which Leonardo Pirondi takes as an opportunity to take a closer look at the discipline of cartography, the quest for “new worlds,” and geopolitical and virtual realities. A fascinating game of perception with many facets—sea monsters included.” — Vienna Shorts

“VISÃO DO PARAÍSO by Leonardo Pirondi explores the phantom island Hy-Brazil, believed to be located in the west of Ireland, triggers this meditation on the links between the great expeditions carried out during the 15th century and VR designers setting their sites on expanding and controlling a virtual "new world". Using interviews, old maps, drawings, technological gadgets and computer simulation, Leonardo Pirondi (director) tackles issues concerning the visible and the invisible, the role of imagination, and the Jupiterian expansion of physical frontiers.” — Chica Barbosa

SHOWS & OTHER SCREENINGS

- REDCAT; Los Angeles, United States [preview screening]
- Visiting Artist Lecture at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; Milwaukee, United States 2023
- Visions2030 - Earth Edition; Los Angeles, USA 2023
- (art)ificial 2.0 presented by Imagine Science Films 2023
- A Night with Leonardo Pirondi and Zazie Ray-Trapido at Spectacle Theater; New York, USA 2023
- Nectar from Another Planet; Poznan, Poland 2024
- BRASIL: Short-Films Night - Cinemaattic; Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh 2024
- Sundance Ignite Fellowship; Special Screening; Park City, Utah 2024
- Centro Cultural de España Juan de Salazar; Asunción, Paraguay 2024
- THIS IS SHORT (streaming) 2024