her appearance on television, Conceição manages to escape from the ties that held her. Japa instructs her to stop trying to release William from his ties and attempting to escape, which she refuses, leading Japa to accidentally kill her. After this, Japa and Branquinha argue about the best way to escape, and accidentally kill each other. The police then invade the home and rescue William and Julie. Cast Larry Pine as William Priscila Assum as Branquinha Silvio Guindane as Japa Ryan Massey as Julie André Mattos as Maguila Maria Sílvia as Dona Conceição Antonio Grassi as police chief Graziela de Laurentis Vicente Barcelos Clemente Viscaíno Maria Adélia as Marta Ricardo Sampaio Reception At the 24th Gramado Film Festival, How Angels Are Born won five awards: Best Director, Critic's Award, Special Jury Award (Assum and Guindane), Best Cinematography (tied with Quem Matou Pixote?), and Best Editing. Sílvia won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 29th Brasília Film Festival, while it was awarded the Best Film at the 23rd Festival de Cine Iberoamericano de Huelva. Luiz Zannin Oricchio, writing for O Estado de S. Paulo, called it "one of the best films of the so-called renaissance of Brazilian cinema". The author of the book Splendors of Latin Cinema, Hernandez Rodriguez, declared it is "far from the visual rush, the intensity, and the perfection of style, as well as the visual of pyrotechnics of Cidade de Deus", and said it is "definitely more interesting than Cidade dos Homens". The way children are represented in How Angels Are Born was commented by Italian Neorealism and Global Cinemas writers Laura E. Ruberto and Kristi M. Wilson, who compared it to Italian neorealism films. Varietys critic Ken Eisner praised Assum's performances, stating Branquinha was "played memorably" by her, as well as its cinematography, which helps "to offset plot claustrophobia". Eisner commented that "an apocalyptic ending provides a downbeat jolt to this generally smart and unpredictable drama." Notes References External links 1996 crime drama films 1996 films Brazilian crime drama films Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) 1990s Portuguese-language films Best Picture APCA Award winners