Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) writes letters for illiterate people in the main railroad station of Rio de Janeiro (Central do Brasil). Through the stories that she hears and writes down, an unknown and fascinating Brazil appears, a real panorama of a migrant population trying to maintain its bonds with relatives and the past.

One of Dora´s clients is Ana, who comes to write a letter with her son Josué (Vinícius de Oliviera),
a nine year old boy who dreams of meeting the father that he never knew. At the station´s exit, Ana is run over and Josué becomes orphaned. Even though initially she doesn´t want to, Dora ends up taking care of the boy and becoming involved with him. In the end, she takes Josué inland to the northeast, searching for his father. As they go further into the hinterlands of Brazil, these two characters who are so different from each other become closer and closer. In this way a fascinating voyage begins into the heartland of Brazil, in search of the missing father, and a profoundly moving voyage takes place into the heart of each of the characters of the movie.