Ritas
A self-guided musical portrait of Rita Lee as an irreverent Brazilian rock visionary whose many artistic identities emerge through memory, testimony, and archive.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- intimate
- reflective
- celebratory
- music discovery
- documentary night
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Rita Lee's interviews from different stages of her career guide the account of her life and creative process.
The documentary combines career-spanning interviews, recent testimonials, archive footage, and testimony from major Brazilian musicians.
The film presents Rita Lee as a major female rocker whose work connects música popular brasileira, rock, songwriting, and stage metamorphosis.
Rita is portrayed as poet, composer, instrumentalist, writer, hermit, muse, and an artist who metamorphoses onstage.
Films like Ritas, and why
Amy
music biography built from archival performance material, personal testimony, and the subject's artistic self-fashioning
What Happened, Miss Simone?
intimate portrait of a groundbreaking female singer using archival footage and a creative-life perspective
The Sparks Brothers
archival music documentary examining an artist's identity, collaborators, and evolving public image
Movie Details
- Director
- Oswaldo Santana
- Release Date
- 2025-05-22
- Runtime
- 82 min
- Rating
- 8.3 / 10 (7)
Cast
- Rita Lee
- Roberto de Carvalho
- Gilberto Gil
- Caetano Veloso
- Maria Bethânia
- Elis Regina
- João Gilberto
- Hebe Camargo
- Marília Gabriela
- Arnaldo Baptista
Common questions
- What is Ritas about?
- A self-guided musical portrait of Rita Lee as an irreverent Brazilian rock visionary whose many artistic identities emerge through memory, testimony, and archive.
- What is Ritas like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Ritas as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Ritas violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Ritas.
- Which films are like Ritas?
- Films with a similar feel include Amy, What Happened, Miss Simone?, and The Sparks Brothers.
- How long is Ritas?
- Ritas runs 82 minutes.
