DIR. Juliana Antunes
YEAR. 2017
COUNTRY. Brazil
RUN-TIME. 71 mins
RATING. 18
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
Doors 7.30PM
Film 8.00PM
Juliana Antunes’ truly insightful debut documentary film Baronesa, follows friends Andreia and Leid as they navigate the perilous reality of daily life in the favelas of Belo Horizonte. At first glance, their days seem calm and untroubled, but the threat of violence is never far away and Andreia dreams of moving to the safer neighbourhood of nearby Baronesa.
Antunes spent five years in Belo Horizonte working with a non-professional cast to create a work of rare intimacy and authenticity which—despite its simple structure—emerges as a complex, multilayered and moving portrait of contemporary life in the favelas. Baronesa announces an exciting new voice in Brazilian cinema.
Director Statement
Extraordinary stories are being developed in the lives of the women that inhabit periphery neighborhoods, but not being known outside their private sphere. It was the search of those peculiar biographies that made the film possible. Through a vivid and immersive research process the narrative was build, thanks to the co-operation between the women filming and the ones being filmed, resulting in a movie that transits constantly between reality and fiction.
The screenplay wasn’t written traditionally, but made on the daily basis during conversations, memories, observations, provocations and re-takes. We worked trying to rearrange what was real, since there is no art without transformation. “Baronesa” is an invitation to share experiences through the feminine point of view and its representation.
In Portuguese with English subtitles.
“This is an insider’s view into a very perilous and inhumane facet of Brazil. Paradoxically, this environment is also teeming with beauty and optimism.”
“ The presence of violence in the periphery of the women’s lives is one of the strongest elements of the film, setting its female-centric narrative in stark contrast to the high-testosterone approach taken by filmmakers in films such as City Of God or Elite Squad.”