Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca Win Audi Short Film Award in Berlin, Prepare for Venice Biennale

The artistic duo Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca, based in Recife, received the Audi Short Film Award at the Berlin Festival for their short film RISE. The film is described as a "hip-hopera" made in collaboration with poets, rappers, and singers from the Toronto collective R.I.S.E. (REACHING INTELLIGENT SOULS EVERYWHERE), documenting their work in a community center in the Canadian city's suburbs and filmed in a subway station. The award is granted by the automaker Audi, a sponsor of the festival. In May, the duo will represent Brazil at the 58th Venice Biennale, selected by Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, curator of the 33rd São Paulo Biennial. Wagner and de Burca have worked together since 2011, with works presented in museums, festivals, and biennials, including their piece 'Estás Vendo Coisas' at the 32nd São Paulo Biennial, created in collaboration with Recife's brega MCs. The duo emphasizes a collaborative 'doing together' approach with the groups they work with, rather than a unilateral extraction of product. Bárbara Wagner is Brazilian, and Benjamin de Burca was born in Munich.