Master, a Building in Copacabana

When Eduardo Coutinho spends a week talking to tenants in an enormous lower middle-class Rio de Janeiro apartment building called the Master, he captures the stories of many colorful lives. As the film crew navigates through the twelve-story, 267-apartment building, we become privy to awkward confessions, candid tears, boastful poetry readings, and long-winded evenings of karaoke. Master’s warm and affectionate look at a few gifted storytellers makes it much more than a nuts-and-bolts talking-heads documentary—director Coutinho captures their melancholy, hopes, regrets, and pride, along with their performances.