Cristovam, a black man originally from a rural area in
northern Brazil, moves to a city in the south, a rich, former Austrian colony,
to work at a dairy farm. He is surrounded by xenophobic, conservative people
and feels like a stranger in the community and alone. When he discovers an
abandoned stone house full of objects that remind him of his origins, he
decides to move into that place, where the memories slowly seem to come to life
and push him toward a radical transformation. A magical debut that delves into
Brazilian folklore tradition to depict today's social and cultural tensions.
Biography
film director
João Paulo Miranda Maria
after graduating in cinema, he started working as a teacher at UNIMEP (Methodist University of Piracicaba). In 2015 his short Command Action was selected at Critic's Week; in 2016 João Paulo Miranda Maria's short filmThe Girl Who Danced With the Devil was awarded with the Special Mention of Jury prize at Cannes Film Festival. His latest short film, Meninas Formicida (2017), was selected on Orizzonti Selection at the Venice Film Festival. Memory House (2020), project selected at the Critic's Week Next Step Lab and selected for the official selection of Cannes, is João Paulo Miranda Maria's first feature film and was presented at the Toronto Film Festival.
FILMOGRAFIA
Circus Love(cm, 2013), Ida do Diabo (Way of the Devil, cm, 2014),Command Action (cm, 2015), A moça que dançuo com o Diablo (The Girl Who Danced With the Devil, cm, 2016), Meninas Formicida (cm, 2017), Casa de antiguidades (2020).
Declaration
film director
“There is a distinct division in Brazilian society between a richer South, identifying with its European origins, and a poorer North, populated by descendants of African slaves and Indigenous tribes. The film portrays the revolutionary figure of the Northern man who incarnates the spirit of the “Boiadeiro” (a Brazilian cowboy). Cristovam seeks revenge to exculpate his sins as he feels responsible for an intolerant society. Through the abandoned house, he connects with his remote past, to animals and his deity, and transforms into a both a bull and a cowboy.”