“We are relocating.” Since I married Mr. Ames, this has been one of the most common sentences of my expat life. I blame him a little considering that he is the one responsible for me “relocating” to Canada. I say that I relocated here seeking social acceptance, since “falling madly in love for a Canadian man” isn’t the most professional way to introduce myself during a job interview.

Throughout the two years that we lived in the Okanagan, I felt that our boxes were never empty and suitcases were always ready to go somewhere else. Things were different in Vancouver though. For three years, we were able to settle and grow some roots, have friends who were always a block away from us and create a few Sunday morning traditions. So, why relocate again?

Honestly, because my life gets boring if I live forever in the same apartment, city or province. Yes, that’s my very honest answer! The rationale behind our relocation to Ontario involved my scholarship to the masters in media production program at Ryerson University and the opportunity to explore a bigger job market. I know, It seems more “put together’ if the move involves jobs and a one of a kind opportunity, doesn’t it?

My mom called me a Gipsy and, as a good honorary British Columbian, told me that she didn’t like Toronto even though she has never explored anything but the Pearson’s airport on her way to Vancouver. All our friends were very sad with our departure in an almost cruel way (we know they meant good). And we were scared, very scared! Afraid that we would hate the weather, worried that we would never find a good coffee shop in our neighbourhood, and trying to believe that everything would happen exactly as we planned.

Two months have passed since we set foot in Toronto. We did lose one box in the move and we miss our family and friends and the smell of the ocean. However, yesterday, Mr. Ames happily told me that he never had so much Summer in his life before and I’m going back to school with a great tan! We also welcomed some new amazing friends to our lives with new perceptions of the world, hobbies and ambitions.

After so many years living as an expat, I know that relocating has nothing to do with replacing. It’s all about exploring and re-adapting.

And you, are you ready to pack again?

The Real Meaning of Relocating is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

Grande parte dos visitantes novos deste blog chega aqui procurando informações sobre o processo de imigração canadense. Embora este blog não seja sobre imigração, emails pedindo informações sobre o processo de imigração para Canadá chegam quase que diariamente ao meu inbox.

O texto abaixo estava engavetado desde julho de 2010 e para evitar que perguntas sobre o processo de imigração se percam no meu gmail, resolvi publicar a minha trajetória aqui para referência dos corajosos imigrantes.

O MadameHeringer.com continua sendo um espaço sobre cultura, comunicação e viagem. Existem inúmeros blogs sobre imigração em português, alguns deles listados no blogroll deste blog, que já fazem um trabalho sensacional. Perguntas serão apenas respondidas via comentários neste blog post.

Enjoy!

Em 2006, no auge da minha inquietude juvenil, eu decidi que precisava viajar e conhecer o mundo. Não sabia pra onde ia e nem por quanto tempo; mas estava certa de que precisava desbravar um país novo, de preferência bem longe do Brasil e com uma estada planejada de pelo menos seis meses. A maioria dos brasileiros que imigram para o Canadá desembarcam no Person’s com um plano detalhado, certos de que na corrida de táxi entre o aeroporto e a primeira casa temporária, existe um Service Canada aberto e um recruiter oferecendo emprego para quem chega. Bem, esta não é a história que eu tenho pra contar…

Eu cheguei ao Canadá com um plano que começou com desembarque previsto no John F. Kennedy airport, em Nova Iorque. Como eu sempre trabalhei em mídia, achava que pedir demissão do emprego brasileiro em televisão para um estágio em Nova Iorque fazia mais sentido para a minha carreira profissional. O plano estava indo muito bem até que eu decidi explorar outros países através das comunidades do orkut. Três meses antes de “fechar negócio” com uma agência de intercâmbio, eu acabei conhecendo brasileiros que viviam no Canadá completamente apaixonados pela cultura e pela qualidade de vida que encontraram aqui. Assim eu disse Good bye, “I *heart* NY” t-shirt…

Eu cheguei em Vancouver em outubro de 2006 com vistos de estudo e trabalho garantidos pelo pacote de intercâmbio que comprei no Brasil. Voltar a vida de estudante em tempo integral foi muito bom, especialmente depois de quatro anos intensos de faculdade e trabalho no Brasil. Quando a parte prática do programa chegou, eu estava mais que pronta e cheia de curiosidade para conhecer Kelowna, uma cidadezinha ao norte de British Columbia.

Meu primeiro trabalho no Canadá foi como caixa de uma cafeteria no Big White Ski Resort. Foi uma experiência interessante, aprendi a falar inglês na marra e acabei conhecendo Mr. Ames. Entre o meu desembarque no YVR em outubro de 2006 e o meu casamento em fevereiro de 2007, eu tive muito pouco tempo para pensar no que eu realmente queria conseguir aqui ou até se queria ficar e construir uma família no Canadá. Ironicamente, o processo de imigração foi longo o suficiente para me dar todo o tempo que eu precisava para pensar nos meus próximos passos (e até na morte da bezerra!).

Como eu não conhecia ninguém no Canadá, social media (leia-se orkut) foi a solução mais viável que eu encontrei para me familiarizar com o processo de imigração. Na Brazil Canada, eu conheci o Otávio Gouveia e depois de muito email documentando a consultoria, resolvi contratá-lo para cuidar do meu processo de sponsorship. Toda a documentação provando o meu relacionamento, até então um longo casamento de menos de dez meses, seguiu para Ottawa no final de 2007 pesando quase três quilos.

Eu recebi a minha residência permanente em junho de 2008. Em uma semana encontrei o emprego na minha área em uma ONG. O mercado na época estava bem mais aquecido, e confesso que tive muita sorte em encontrar alguém que acreditasse em mim e me oferecesse uma oportunidade (Hey, mas não é de momentos assim que a vida é feita?).

Até agora não tenho do que reclamar. Sim, são inúmeras as dificuldades. Não, não é fácil, e sem humildade e persistência não se chega a lugar algum. Mas embora tudo tenha acontecido muito rápido nos últimos quatro anos, fico feliz por ter apostado na minha vontade de mudar e explorar o mundo. Conheci pessoas interessantes, expandi meus horizontes e passei a ver a vida por um prisma multi-cultural.

Imigrar é uma experiência interessante; pode ser um renascimento para alguns ou se transformar numa vida de lamento para outros. Depende muito on which path you choose. Eu ainda prefiro sempre apostar porque, como dizia Pablo Neruda, “o mundo é grande demais para nascer e morrer no mesmo lugar.”

(Sim, o casamento vai muito bem, obrigada. Marido canadense é o que há!)

[Fridays in Portuguese] Canadá: Imigração is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

Photo credit: Jeremy Lim

On April 5th, I had the opportunity to share my story as an immigrant and professional at #NETCulture: Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media. The turnout was incredible! Over 200 people showed up to discuss multiculturalism in the digital space and throughout Canada. Not only did I have the opportunity to share my story, but I also learned a lot about other cultures and how other newcomers have been sharing their journey in the social space. #Netculture has the potential to become a 2-day unconference, I have no doubt about it! Our audience held it together for two full hours. When the time for the Q&A arrived , ten minutes was not enough. It was a great experience for me. After a lot of hours planning and rehearsing, the presentation itself came out differently from the original plan below. Enjoy!

I first arrived in Vancouver in October 2006, but I consider February 25th, 2007 my second date of arrival in Canada. It was the day that my husband and I got married and we decided to start a life together here. With this decision, I had to reassess all my expectations. From international student to full time immigrant, my priorities also changed. To feel that I could stay in Canada, I felt that had to achieve three goals: to have a career, to feel that I was part of a community, and to feel that I actually had a future here.

Immigrant Services Society of BC, ISSofBC for short, was my first employer in Canada. I was the first employee of the Mentoring Connections program. For those of you who are not familiar with Mentoring Connections, the program is responsible for matching skilled immigrants with experienced Vancouver-based professionals in a career-focused mentorship.

I was as new to the city as the program’s clients, I had no professional network and I didn’t know where to start. At that time, social media seemed to me as the easiest way to reach out to the volunteers that I needed to attract to the program.

ISSofBC was also reinventing itself when I first started with the agency. Mentoring Connections was the first program to develop a digital strategy during the re-branding period. As part of the Mentoring team, I had the opportunity to start a blog, expand the program’s reach on Linkedin and maintain a strong presence on Twitter. Mentoring Connections allowed me to polish my skills in the digital space and also gave to our clients and volunteers a platform to broadcast their experience with the program. At that point, I felt that I had built a strong online presence for my employer, but no one knew Veronica Heringer in the digital space.

Often people ask me if I had a plan. My answer is yes and no. At the beginning, after reading a bunch of articles about self-promotion through social media, my twitter feed looked very career-focused and professional.

But then, we had the Olympics and everything changed for me. I was completely absorbed by the party and started to weigh into the discussions giving my point of view. And because I am not from Canada, I often compared what was happening here to what I knew from Brazil.

It was during the Olympics that I also decided to write my blog primarily in English. My first blog post was published on February 12th, after walking around Downtown Vancouver. It was the first time that I’ve seen Canadians so excited about something in Vancouver. During the Olympics, I blogged, I filmed things that were happening around me, volunteered, and of course, tweeted about it.

But then, I had to start to manage my previous audience expectations. In an attempt to make everybody happy I wrote bilingual posts for a while. Today, I keep the section “Fridays in Portuguese” as a way to acknowledge the readers that come to my blog looking for content in Portuguese.

I started to look around to find a place where I could apply my skills and the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival seemed to be the best place for me to experiment. I worked for the festival in 2009 as a Media Relations coordinator and last year I assumed the coordination of the festival’s social media channels.

The 2010 VLAFF was the first social media campaign that I’ve led. By making the festival more sharable and accessible to the festival’s audience, we were able to more than double the number of Facebook fans without spending any money on advertising.

One simple initiative that we brought to the festival last year was the VLAFF red carpet, where we took pictures of our audience and made them available on Facebook and Flickr. Not only did we attract over 500 new fans to our page, but we were also able to reach out to our community, attracting the real fans, people who are interested in the festival even during the off-season.

So, if you are looking for a way to build your online presence. Here are my three takeaways:

Start with “something.” My starting point was Linkedin, then I moved to twitter, and then I started blogging in English. Just start!

Once you start interacting in the space, be there for us! Don’t start, forget about it and then say that you’re unable to establish connections online. Be yourself and be persistent! It will take time, but it will pay off!

It’s important to come to events like this one and talk with the people that you’ve met online. If I hadn’t gone to Northern Voice last year, I wouldn’t be here today. If I hadn’t made an effort to meet the people that I was a fan of online, I wouldn’t have landed my dream job at DDB Canada.

I know these steps sound simple, but that’s my way to establish a career, be part not only of the Latin American and Brazilian communities, but also the local digital scene. I not only feel that I have a future in my new country, but I am also excited about making it my new home.

#NETCulture: The Multicultural Discussion Must Continue is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

Don’t you think it’s very ironic that when I finally get invited to give a presentation about social media this blog experiences the deadliest month ever?

I have been very excited about the #NetCulture events since I first learned about them earlier this month. Canada is a multicultural and diverse country, no doubt about that, but it’s very comfortable for all of us to stay within the limits of our own cultural silos. We know that we are all Canadians, but I feel that we haven’t discussed what being Canadian really means to each one of us. Most importantly, most of us haven’t taken the time to share what we’ve learned!

The #NetCulture team has pulled together an amazing event. From teaching the secrets of couch surfing to showcasing successful blogs and local authors, this event got it all. #NetCulture: Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media happens on Tuesday, April 5th at the Vancouver Public Library. It starts at 7pm and each speaker will have seven minutes to share their personal stories. Admission is free.

#NetCulture: Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media

Tuesday, April 5th,2011

Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch

Tickets available at http://netculture.eventbrite.com

After-Party RSVP http://netculture-afterparty.eventbrite.com/

#NetCulture: Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

Illustration by ©glowinthedarkpictures.com

Last week , I got happily dragged to Crave Vancouver’s launch event with a mission: teach one of  my most awesome friends the ins and outs of networking. I understand that after a whole year of attending networking and professional developing events, my friends expect me to have mastered the art of networking, but I admit that I was flattered by her invitation!

In all fairness, being married to a salesman who is the most popular kid in the block (seriously, Mr. Ames is the mayor of our building and I am not talking about Foursquare!) might have taught me a thing or two about networking. Necessity, also know as job hunting, also made me learn to how to strike up friendly conversations with strangers. So, if you haven’t started saying hello to people random, here is a list of topics that might inspire you:

1 – Weather

If you’re a new Canadian like me, you’ve probably noticed that Canadian-born people love to talk about the weather. It’s not a matter of knowing if it’s going to rain or not, we all watch the weather forecast and know for a fact that it’s going to snow. For some reason Canadians are like diplomats and don’t talk about politics with strangers. Just accept that! The good thing about talking about the weather is the opportunity to learn more about the person’s habits, ask what they did over the weekend and really strike up a conversation.

There is a reason why diplomats are always talking about the weather. Learn more about snowstorms and rain too!

2 – Work

We, West Coasters, have this beautiful illusion that work is secondary in our lives. As I said, it’s an illusion! We all love to talk about what we are working on because we all work really hard.

By asking the simple question What do you do?, I have had the opportunity to meet some pretty awesome people in Vancouver. Usually, what keep us from asking this simple question is the fear of being perceived as a job hunter (or a hardcore networker!) However, if you are at a networking event, what people think of you should be the least important variable in your connecting equation!

3 – Dogs

If you don’t know that I have the most awesome bulldog in Vancouver, you will miss the opportunity of becoming my friend! In Vancouver, we are closer to Paris than we want to admit. It feels like 50% of Downtown Vancouver population has a dog, 30% has a kid, and 20% has both. Your chances of starting a conversation talking about your dog (or about an imaginary pet that you don’t have but are researching about) are super high. Not to mention that Mr. Ames has found two job leads during the recession at the dog park!

4 – Your Home country

Most of us tend to avoid talking about our home country when we are meeting new people. I confess that I am completely guilty on that matter too! However, after four years in Canada and a huge Canadianzation of my inner self, if you have an accent, I really want to learn more about your background, about your culture and about the barriers that you’ve been facing. I also want to know what brought you to Canada, and what makes you think that you will stay.

Talking about your home country can be very interesting and will open doors for you. Believe me!

5- An Unusual Job

Like our home country, we newcomers tend to try to forget our unusual jobs. For three years, I tried as hard as I could to hide two out of my last three jobs: TV programmer at Playboy TV and cashier at a coffee shop. Oddly enough, I am quite sure that these two unusual occupations were were the reason why I got my dream job!

P.S.: What are you networking techniques? What do you do to start a conversation with a stranger?

My Top 5 Conversation Starters is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

MadameHeringer.com and @vheringer are part of the Brazilian TV channel Multishow #outros500 project. To celebrate, MadameHeringer.com will have a blog post in Portuguese published every Friday for the Portuguese-speaking readers of this site.

Eu comprei a minha poppy no último domingo e a perdi em três horas. Tenho certeza que eu ainda a teria na lapela do meu casaco se esse veterano (ou pracinha como chamamos no Brasil) tivesse me vendido o pin.

Desde segunda-feira tenho observado esse senhorzinho vendendo poppies na esquina da rua do meu trabalho. Toda a estratégia de venda dele é baseada num atendimento impecável ao cliente. O pedestre que passa pela esquina da Hornby com a Robson street em Vancouver é primeiro abordado com um sorriso e bom papo, e assim que fecha negócio através de uma doação, ele mesmo coloca a poppy na lapela do cliente e o deseja um bom dia.

Quem diria que tanta simpatia viria de um voluntário? Alguém que chega a esquina do meu trabalho bem mais cedo do que eu por que acredita numa causa. Bem, voluntários como este são responsáveis por arrecadar mais de 16 milhões de dólares por ano. Dinheiro este usado para manter serviços comunitários da Salvation Army, uma organização não-governamental voltada a apoiar veteranos de guerra e militares aposentados.

Desde que me mudei para o Canadá, venho aprendendo a ver a minha vida pessoal e profissional sob uma nova luz. Coincidentemente, enquanto eu pensava num blog post para essa foto, recebi o link da TEDxSP para a palestra do presidente do Banco Santander, Fábio Barbosa e achei que seria ótimo dividir tanto a foto quanto o link num mesmo blog post. Sei que parece contraditório apoiar o discurso de um banqueiro (qualquer banqueiro!), mas mesmo assim acho que o Fábio Barbosa acertou na mosca ao criticar a cultura do jeitinho brasileiro e a lógica do esperto.

Embora ambas histórias pareçam distantes entre si, ambos falam sobre a importância de se fazer o que é certo e socialmente responsável no nosso cotidiano. Foi-se o tempo em que tínhamos que aceitar o que nos era delagado. Atualmente, nós, consumidores e cidadãos somos quem tem o poder no processo político e econômico de nossos países. Pena que ainda teimamos em não enxergar isso…

[Fridays in Portuguese] Abrace Uma Causa! is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

This Saturday, I am taking my engagement with the Women in Leadership Foundation to the next level. As a 2010 mentee and gala event volunteer, I will be one of  WIL’s enthusiasts greeting you at the 3rd Annual Superwomen and Friends Gala at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. Since my first contact with WIL, a lot has changed, and I am happy to share that the foundation has helped me achieve some of the goals that I had set for this year.

Audi of Richmond is the 2010 gala event major sponsor and I am very pround to have three Brazilian enterpreneur women donating their time, products and services to help WIL empower over 100 women across Canada. Lili Vieira de Carvalho is donating a couple of nights at her super cozy condo, Belle Meinerz Photography has donated a one-hour photosession, and Green Sapphire Imports will have a beautiful necklace at the silent auction. I do intend to bid in all these three items donated by my superwomen friends. (Let’s face it! A city getaway, a marvelous photoshoot, or a gorgeous necklace made of Brazilian berries are wonderful things to have, don’t you think?)

So, what are you waiting for? Go to WIL’s website and commit to taking your best friend for dinner. You’ll get pampered at the make-up bar before your red carpet entrance, then drink Blasted Church‘s delicious wine, watch a great fashion show and have the opportunity to meet superwomen like you!

Women in Leadership Foundation: 3rd Annual Superwomen & Friends Gala is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

On October 15th, I joined Ron Sombilon and Matt Nest of Ron Sombilon Gallery to photograph We Day, a day-long event created by Free The Children to celebrate the power of young people to create positive change.  I wasn’t the only one to show up at Rogers Arena either, as I was joined by Al Gore, Rick Hansen, Hedley, Martin Sheen, the Barenaked Ladies, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and about 18,000 high school kids. Created by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger, We Day is a three city series of events that kick off a year-long program called We Schools in Action, open to all schools who are ready to make a commitment to take local and global action. With standing room only, We Day had Rogers Arena packed to the rafters just like a Vancouver Canucks home game, the only difference being that for once I was taller than most of the people on the concourse. And there was no beer.

Hedley at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

Martin Sheen at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

Al Gore at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I am not what you would call an activist. I don’t generally get involved in causes and the closest I usually get to affecting social change is voting for the NDP. But I have to admit that being surrounded by around 18,000 fervent kids completely committed to improving the lives of other kids around the world was a very inspiring experience.

Martin Sheen speaks at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

Speaking of inspiring, Martin Sheen was fantastic. An activist since he was a child, he organized a strike with his fellow golf caddies when he was only 14 and went on to put together an impressive arrest record with well over 60 entries. It was refreshing to see that Hollywood has more than Paris/Perez Hilton to offer the world.  Considerably more.

Al Gore Speaks at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

Al Gore was also great to see on stage.  He’s a very engaging speaker and has been working tirelessly for years to get the word out on this theory that he’s calling “climate change”. It turns out that people are changing our climate here on Earth, and not for the better. There must be something to it, seeing as how he has won the Nobel Prize and invented the internet. Well, won the Nobel Prize anyway. In all seriousness, Gore was awesome and I really hope that the kids in attendance are inspired to continue his work to save the planet, because let’s face it, the adults have dropped the ball and show no sign of picking it up. Kyoto anyone?

The Reverend Jesse Jackson Speaks at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

The highlight of the entire day, at least for me, was the Reverend Jesse Jackson. I’ve seen the good Reverend on TV (and heard him sampled in quite a few house tracks) and always thought that he was very intelligent and well-spoken, but nothing could have prepared me for the power and charisma of the man on stage. Social awareness is something that not many people can attest to walking the walk the way that the Reverend Jesse Jackson has, and it was refreshing to hear someone with that much experience and credibility having an arena full of young people repeating after him the following statements:

I’m a member of the world.
I’m a member of the human race.
One half of all human beings are Asian.
One half of them are Chinese.
One eighth of the human race is African.
One quarter are Nigerian.
There are more people living in India than the US, England and China combined.
We live in a hemisphere where English is a minority language.
Two thirds of our neighbours speak Spanish.
We must learn to speak more than one language.
We must learn to live together.
This world is our world.

I think that this speech was probably intended for a young American audience, because I feel that we Canadians have a considerably less exaggerated view of our own importance within the international community, but the message is still important and it needs to be said. We’re all members of the human race, and we must learn to live together.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson at We Day Vancouver - Photography by Myke Ames

All in all, it was a great day and I feel that I came away from the event a little bit better than when I arrived. In a world where it seems like most of our activities are just about killing time, I’d say that it was a day well spent.

Vancouver: We Day 2010 is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

My First Canada Immigration Stamp – Pearson International Airport, October 14th, 2006

The confusion started in 2008 and since then, I have been celebrating my first day in Canada anniversary on the 16^th of October. Apparently, my blogging laziness has been affecting my memory as well. Just in case, I added an appointment to my Google calendar, hoping that in 2011 my commemorative blog post will go out on the 14^th.

Canada immigration policies have been widely discussed in the news lately, and as much as we’d like to find a definitive solution, we know it will take us generations to settle into being a true multicultural society. We also know that from the day of their landing, every single immigrant wants to make of Canada the most successful chapter of their life. I am no exception. Even though my story is slightly different (staying in Canada was a complete accident), I must admit that once I decided to make this country my home, my expectations changed drastically!

The Accident – February 25th, 2007

I don’t even know how many nights of sleep I lost obsessing over the idea of finding a job, starting a career and succeeding in Canada while I was waiting for my permanent residency. However, as attractive as starting fresh can sound, not belonging to a community does make one’s life difficult. I am not complaining, nor am I blaming Canada because I know that any foreigner living in Brazil would face the same barriers or even worse. What I am trying to say is that settling into a new country can be one of the most challenging things that anyone can impose on themselves. Expectations tend to drive newcomers nuts and saving face can become a common habit when speaking to friends and family when visiting their original country.

In 2008, if you would have asked me why I wanted to stay in Canada I would answer that I was choosing quality of life over my career. Yes, my answer was super-hypocritical, since 10 out of 10 newcomers need and value a job. Two years and a lot of blog posts and tweets later, I can now say that I chose to stay because my life is here. I have built a great list of amazing friends and I am very proud of what I have achieved both personal and professionally. 4 years into a “Canadianization” process I can say that it takes time to knock down walls and allow oneself to be honest…

Working hard with Lili Vieira de Carvalho at the 2010 VLAFF – September 12th, 2010

So, what do I want from here? Immigrating to Canada didn’t kill me, it definitely made me stronger. Now that the initial barriers aren’t there anymore, I want to overcome what is left and keep giving back to my new country. Some questions will never go away (Is my English good enough? Are my jokes funny? Why is this person making a weird face while I speak? Are they really interested in what I have to say?), and I’ll never be able to get a straight answer either (now I am blaming Canadian hospitality and politeness). But, since Canada chose me, I am here to build a country and fight. So, bring on the next 40 years, I am ready!

P.S.: This month, I came across this wonderful talk by Lionel Laroche at the 2008 ISAP Conference. He’s brilliant! I learned so much from the four videos that I recommend them to anyone who is an immigrant or is planning to come to Canada.

Canada: Four Years Later… is a post from: MadameHeringer.com

                          

The Brazilian Film Festival of Vancouver has been visiting our city for the same number of years that I have been living here. As a Brazilian expat, I am always happy to welcome The Inffinito Group’s film festival and watch my beloved Vancouver get better acquainted with my culture.

In the last few years, the Brazilian Film Festival of Vancouver has allowed me to meet other amazing Brazilians who are also learning to call Vancouver their home, Canadians who speak perfect Portuguese, and people from all around the world who love Cinema . With a workforce of over 50 volunteers, the Brazilian Film Festival of Vancouver brings four full days of Brazilian cinema packaged in a very interesting selection of Brazilian short and long length films, and special events.

The 3rd Brazilian Film Festival of Vancouver will take place at Vancity Theatre from July 15th to 18th. Ten full-length films will be screened, including four documentaries, one comedy and five dramas. The festival has also scheduled  a FREE panel discussion on Saturday, July 17th called BRAZIL XXI – A Cinema Without Borders with film critic Wilson Cunha and one of the festival curators Bianca de Felippes.

[ONLINE CONTEST] Blue Eyes – Olhos Azuis

The Inffinito Group has kindly offered MadameHeringer.com a pair of tickets for the July 18th screening of José Joffily’s drama Blue Eyes.

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post or tweet:

I entered to win a pair of tickets for the Brazilian Film Festival of #Vancouver @madameheringer http://wp.me/pHmOV-BL

The winner will be announced on Friday, July 16th at 3:00 pm. Good Luck!

Monica Hamburg is the lucky winner! Thanks for the comments, everybody.

3rd Brazilian Film Festival of Vancouver is a post from: MadameHeringer.com