AllMovie

While he was a noted politician and lawyer, Humberto Teixeira is best remembered in his native Brazil as one of the nation's most successful and influential songwriters. Teixeira was a master of the Baiao, a rhythmic style that was commonplace in rural Northeastern Brazil but didn't register on the nation's hit parade until Teixeira and his writing partner Luis Gonzaga popularized it in the Southern regions in the 1940s. The sensuous rhythms of Baiao were a key influence on a generation of Latin musicians, influencing the later Bossa Nova movement, and were later felt in the evolution of reggae in Jamaica and rock 'n' roll in the United States. As Baiao became the dominant sound in Brazilian music, Teixeira literally became the nation's musical ambassador, leading groups of Latin musicians on international tours to expose their music to the world, believing it could become one of Brazil's most valuable exports. Filmmaker Lirio Ferreira teamed with Denise Dumont, Humberto Teixeira's daughter, to create O homem que engarrafava nuvens (aka The Man Who Bottled Clouds), a documentary that tells the story of Teixeira's remarkable life through interviews with his friends, family and colleagues. The Man Who Bottled Clouds received its world premiere as part of the Premiere Brazil film series at New York City's Museum of Modern Art.