Brazil’s Arte1 channel premieres a new season of its flagship arts show and airs Chaplin’s “Modern Times” this week.
“Arte1 em Movimento” Returns with Theater, Funk and Babenco
The 14th season of “Arte1 em Movimento” premieres this Thursday, February 19, at 9:30 PM (BRT). Hosted by the channel’s editor-in-chief Gisele Kato, the weekly arts magazine covers highlights across multiple artistic disciplines with an original, inclusive approach focused on building new audiences.
Running since the channel’s founding, the program strikes a balance between informative and reflective content. It spotlights both established artists and emerging talents, fostering a horizontal exchange of knowledge with its viewers.
The season opener follows “Medea”, a stage production directed by Gabriel Villela based on the Roman retelling of the Greek myth written by philosopher Seneca. The production bridges classical antiquity and contemporary Brazilian theater.
The episode also covers “Funk: A Cry of Audacity and Freedom”, an exhibition currently running at the Museu da Língua Portuguesa (Museum of the Portuguese Language) in São Paulo. The show gives funk — a genre born in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas — the institutional recognition it deserves.
In a personal highlight, actress and director Bárbara Paz selects five essential films from the career of director Hector Babenco (1946–2016), who would have turned 80 in February. It’s a heartfelt tribute to one of the most important voices in Brazilian and Latin American cinema.
“Modern Times”: Chaplin’s Critique That Still Rings True
On Friday, February 20, at 11 PM (BRT), Arte1 screens “Modern Times” (1936), written and directed by Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977). The film follows factory worker Charlie, an unwilling cog in the industrial machine whose mind-numbing routine drives him to a nervous breakdown.
Alongside a young orphan girl, Chaplin’s iconic Tramp character navigates failed jobs, run-ins with the law, and fleeting moments of joy. The film ends with the two walking down an open road toward an uncertain future — one of the most memorable closing shots in cinema history.
The film presents the Tramp’s clash with industrial modernity as a sharp critique of capitalism and nazifascism.
Released in 1936, at the height of European fascism and rapid industrialization, “Modern Times” feels as urgent today as ever. Its critique of unchecked capitalism and social control speaks directly to contemporary debates about labor, technology, and human dignity.
Listings
Arte1 em Movimento – Season 14
Premiere: Thursday, February 19, at 9:30 PM (BRT)
Additional airings: Feb 20 – 9:30 AM | Feb 21 – 7 PM | Feb 22 – 8:30 AM | Feb 24 – 10:30 AM
Modern Times (1936), dir. Charlie Chaplin
Premiere: Friday, February 20, at 11 PM (BRT)
Additional airings: Feb 22 – 11:30 AM | Feb 23 – 8 AM and 3 PM
Photo: Press Release/Arte1
