SYNOPSIS
The trajectory of Berenice Menegale is inseparable from the cultural history of Minas Gerais, in which the Artistic Education Foundation (FEA) has played a significant role, especially in the field of music. The matter of education through the arts permeates everything. Berenice remembers with impressive vitality her first contacts with her mother’s piano, at the age of 3. Her enthusiasm for education and culture was also influenced by her father, Heli Menegale. A journalist, poet and teacher, he was an advisor to Darcy Ribeiro as Minister of Education. In adolescence, Berenice studied piano in Paris and then in Vienna, where she graduated as a pianist. The rigor of an European education and a career as a concert pianist did not fulfill her. She returned to Belo Horizonte determined to renew the city’s cultural scene – a purpose she has been fulfilling for 60 years. She began by creating, alongside a group of young musicians, the FEA, a cradle of talents of national and international relevance, such as Uakti. She kept working, leading the implementation of the Secretariats of Culture in her state and city, creating and welcoming proposals for artistic training and dissemination. As mirrors endlessly reflecting something placed in the center, her principles of freedom and inventiveness are noticed both in the public and private spheres. When asked about what stories she would like to tell, Berenice pauses and, squinting, replies: “It’s not about the stories… it’s about the possibility for so many things to happen.”

PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Ressonâncias project received sponsored funding from BDMG – Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais through the 2022 Municipal Law of Incentive to Culture for the production of a short documentary, with a planned release in 2025. In parallel with the production of this format, the script for the feature-length documentary is being developed.

PRESENTATION MATERIALS