BEHIND THE LENS:.

 

Edilberto Restino -DRT - USP - ABFS - BAFTA  (Restini), Sociologist, is a multi award-winning film director and actor. With 21 awards, Restino is one of the most awarded directors in UK and Brazil.  

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Vegan since he was 18 years old, Restino looks out for equal rights to every sentient being. Those ideas come out in his films and books. Vegetarianism and Veganism was not very well know in Brazil at that time, so when he was boxing, his coach used to say that he was going to die in the ring if he doesn’t eat animal protein.

As a sociologist, he was invited by the environmental organization Projeto Planeta Verde in São Paulo and became their director of communication for 13 years. He was as well vice-president of SOS Fauna Brazil for 5 years, an organization that fights against poachers and the wild traffic in the Brazilian forests. The repercussion of those works brought him the invitation to run as the candidate for the State Deputy elections for São Paulo State and MP elections in São Paulo city. 

 

In 2009/10, Restino directed "Beijo de Morena" (Brunette Kiss) marking his first collaboration with multi-award winning cinematographer Tony Imi, Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck, and producers Rupesh Paresh and Paul E. Brooker. Brunette Kiss was finalized in June 2010, winning Best Director Award at Rob Knox Film Festival 2011, the Best Visual Award at Limelight Film Awards in London 2010, The Grand Prix Award, The Best Set Design Award and Best Performance in a Film Award at The EOTP International Film Festival 2011/12, and it is nominated in various other festivals.

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With Tony Imi and Bridie Latona, Edilberto shot as well Bridge Over Blue in 2010, winning Best Director award and Best Actress award (Bridie Latona) at Rob Knox film festival.



Edilberto did the direction of photography for the motion feature film Scandalous Four. This picture won two awards at California International Film Festival 2011 and two awards at London Independent Film Festival 2011.

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In 2008, in the UK, Restino produced, directed and did the cinematography for Red Letter (a teaser/pilot for the feature Timeless Eye that he is producing in Brazil at moment) which became the first short film from Brighton Film Studios to be chosen by the British Society of Cinematographers to be premiered at the Pinewood Studios " B.S.C. New Cinematographers Night" in 2008. Red Letter had inspired three films in the USA after winning festivals there, credit given by the IMDB official film database site.

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To date, Red Letter has won 15 awards from film festivals across the UK and USA including Best Director twice, Best Visual/Cinematography twice, Best Set Design and Best Short Film 6 times.

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Edilberto started his career as a photographer for magazines in parallel with his acting job  in theatre and television  He worded as choreographer for theatre and shows as well. (He created the Tango puzzle method for actors). Restino worked with publicity for many years, has directed plays and wrote 5 books, "Ser, Nao Estar" , "COH, Onirico!" and "Tao, Tango & Temptation". He had his own advertisement agency and casting actor agency in Brazil for 6 years before moving to the UK. 

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In the UK he had lived and worked with adults with learning disabilities for 4 years in charity organizations, as a  two years sabbatical that extended to four, and in 2018 and 2019 he lived in a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery working as a volunteer while learning meditation and mindfulness.