Glauber Rocha's Cabezas Cortadas gets restoration showcase in Lyon
Glauber Rocha's 1970 film "Cabezas Cortadas" ("Cutting Heads") will be presented as a restoration in progress at the International Classic Film Market (MIFC) in Lyon, Variety reported on 9 October 2026. The market runs alongside the Lumière Film Festival, the Lyon event devoted to classic cinema. Archivists, rights holders and buyers attend to watch, buy and sell older films.
The showcase is part of the MIFC Re>Birth Programme, which is listed by MIFC as featuring "Cabezas Cortadas." The programme presents five ongoing or upcoming restoration projects as works in progress, according to Variety. It also presents five recently restored films chosen for the festival under the Lumière Classics label.
The restoration is being carried out by Video Mercury Films and FlixOlé with the Madrid Film School (ECAM), Variety reported. Video Mercury is overseeing digitisation of the picture and sound. ECAM is handling grading and colour correction, the careful pass where light, contrast and colour are evened out from shot to shot.
The team has finished a 6K digitisation of the original film and sound negatives. That means a very high-resolution scan that captures fine detail for future cinema, television and streaming copies. Colour grading and digital image restoration are now under way, with the aim of having a new digital copy ready by 2027.
"Cabezas Cortadas" premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 1970, according to Variety. Francisco Rabal plays Díaz II, an exiled dictator. The cast also included Pierre Clémenti, Marta May, Rosa María Penna, Emma Cohen and Luis Ciges.
Video Mercury Films holds the rights and will oversee distribution, Variety reported. All worldwide rights and formats are on the table, with the exception of Brazil. In plain terms, buyers outside Brazil can pick up the film for cinemas, television, disc and digital.
Latam Classics presented its inaugural catalogue showcasing significant restored works of Latin American cinema at the market, Variety reported in October 2025. Catalogues of this kind put older titles in one place for festivals, distributors and platforms to find. The Lyon market exists to connect those sellers with buyers.
What makes this stand out for general viewers is simple. The work is not finished. A difficult-to-see title could soon play again in clean, stable images and sound.
