Synopsis

“Women of Brazil” is a full-length feature film that mixes fiction and documentary. During one and a half hours, it tells five stories of Brazilians writers, all of whom live in different parts of the country.

In Rio de Janeiro, one of the most important cultural centres of Brazil and, without doubt, the most ambassadorial city for international tourism, where its Carnival is the largest folk festival in Brazil and possibly the whole world.

In São Paulo, the largest city in South America, a metropolis that is home to many industries and commercial enterprises, which, together with Rio de Janeiro, forms the cultural axes of the country.

In Bom Jesus da Lapa, a city in the State of Bahia, 821km. (500 miles) from the State Capital, Salvador, the main feature of which is the pilgrims who visit a shrine, in repayment for boons granted, discovered by a monk in the XVIIth. Century, located in one of the fifteen supposed miraculous grottoes of the Morro da Lapa.

In Pontal da Areia, a small community close to Maceió, Capital of the State of Alagoas in the Brazilian North-east. A somewhat unusual social situation takes place in this small town which survives from fishing and handicraft, which is that the role of women in the family circle is, economically speaking, more important than that of men. It is they who produce the hand-embroidered lace for which the town is renowned. This work has ensured a year-round tourism attraction, while the men depend on fishing, which is subject to a natural cycle which varies with the seasons.

In Curitiba, which, thanks to its favourable geographical situation which caters for both maritime and river navigation, plus road and railway networks, has become the largest economical, political, commercial and cultural centre in the south of Brazil. A large portion of its population are descendants of Germans who flocked there in the mid XIXth. Century.

The film gives new insight and a new approach to the many facets of this socially hybrid and many-cultured country.

FICTION

Laura, Esmeralda, Telma, Ana and Martileide are the protagonists who lend their names to the titles of our stories. “Women of Brazil” construct an overview of the possible future spirit of Brazilian women through stories that are at times sensual, amusing and soft, while at other times they are sarcastic and cruel. They are characters from different cultural and social classes with unique life experiences, who are going through special moments in their lives.

Time of turning-points, discoveries, sadness, happiness, reconsiderations and restarts. They are ordinary women moved by a never-ending, restless search for their desires and dreams.

Telma (Rio de Janeiro), written by filmaker Malu de Martino, based on a true story, describes the struggle of a flag-bearer in a Samba School to survive the setbacks of daily life and destiny in order to keep up a family tradition and win, as a mother and grandmother, the most coveted prize of Carnival.

Laura (São Paulo) by short-story writer Ledusha Spinardi, tells the story of a woman who, at 45, is faced with the challenge of finding a job in the highly-competitive city of São Paulo at the end of a marriage entirely dedicated to her husband and child.

Esmeralda (Bom Jesus da Lapa, Bahia) by playwright Aninha Franco, weaves a plot with all the flavour of her region, concerning a country girl who has to reconcile her faith as a Christian with superstition and a strict and highly-restrained upbringing. However, from early on, she shows herself to be a strong personality with strong tendencies to bounce between angel and devil. When she grows up, she does not hesitate from straying from the future that has been so carefully planned for her to launch herself on a path beset by risks, deceit, greed and betrayal.

Ana (Maceió), by writers Lucia Guiomar Teixeira and Babe Lavenère, reveals a young University student during her early years of self-discovery. She gets to know a couple of lace-makers and a fisherman at Praia de Pontal da Barra and, through them, is able to take a second look at her own values and seek the courage, strength and sensitivity needed to confront the cracks that open in a world of closed doors and denied desires. It is time for change and Ana is trying her utmost to sink into the spiral of all her emotions.

Martileide (Curitiba), by writer Maria Helena Weber, is a fairy story with a touch of the new millennium. The protagonist is a waitress who, no longer able to put up with her sparse livelihood in a poor suburb of Porto Alegre, is filled with hope at the sound of a voice. A radio announcer enters her life, filling it with moments of unexpected emotion and sensation.

DOCUMENTARY

Many feelings and ways of life are universal. However, the country, the city, the neighbourhood – in other words “the village”, often set the rules by which people relate to each other and, by doing so, leave indelible marks on each of the inhabitants. The points at which real life situations punctuate each of the five stories will constantly allow the viewer to make the connections between the fictional subtlety that shows the characters in action and the real characters as they go through their experiences to reflect upon their lives and, more importantly, the lives that they would really like to have.

Thus we are able to perceive both the similarities and the subtle differences between these women from different regions, social classes and cultures and compare how they cope with the basic universal encounters of the everyday lives of the women.