Afro-Brazilian poet and politician, the legendary Carlos Marighella. Driven to fight against the erosion of civil and human rights following the CIA-backed military coup of 1964 and the brutal, racist right-wing dictatorship that followed, the revolutionary leaves behind his wife and son to take up arms, becoming a notorious enemy to the power structure.

Marighella

Dear Mom centers on the conflictive relationship between Heloisa, a recently divorced doctor, and her mother Ruth. Heloisa blames Ruth for her bad relationship with her own daughter, her failed marriage, and even her unsuccessful career. It’s a conflict that worsens when Ruth, after being diagnosed with cancer, finds out that Heloisa has fallen in love with Leda, a painter she met at the hospital where she works. The new relationship is not well accepted by her family, let alone by Ruth, which worsens the friction between them.

Querida Mamãe

“Nobody Leaves Alive” by André Ristum is shot in beautiful but also distancing black and white. Looking at the Venice line-up, this seems to be a trend this year among the maestros of cinema. The film is inspired by true events that took place in the last century in the “Colonia” hospital in Brazil. Whoever didn’t fit the standards of society, or their family’s perception of it, was locked away, tortured, and killed. There were altogether more than 60,000 victims. Hope dies last, and some of the inmates don’t give up the fight. We’re reminded of film classics such as “One Flew Over the Cookoo’s Nest” or “Alcatraz”.