Stolen Dreams Stolen Dreams a Film by Sandra Werneck
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
stolen dreams stolen dreams sandra werneck a film by Studio: Cineluz Distribution: Europa Filmes 2009 · Brazil · Drama 90 min · 35 mm · color cast Jessica Nanda Costa Daiane Amanda Diniz Sabrina Kika Farias Dolores Marieta Severo Uncle Pery Daniel Dantas Horacio Nelson Xavier Mr. Germano Ângelo Antônio Aunt Socorro Lorena da Silva Wesley Guilherme Duarte Andresson Silvio Guindane Mrs. Jandira Zezeh Barbosa Presenting MV Bill fact sheet Producer and Director: Sandra Werneck Script: Paulo Halm, Michelle Franz, Adriana Falcão, Sandra Werneck, José Joffily, Mauricio O. Dias Executive producer: Elisa Tolomelli Production director: Fernando Zagallo Photography director and cameraman: Walter Carvalho Art director: José Joaquim Direct sound: Leandro Lima Editor: Mair Tavares Sound editor: Waldir Xavier Soundtrack: Fabio Mondego, Fael Mondego, Marco Tommaso Studio: Cineluz Co-producers: Estudios Mega, Labocine Sponsors: BNDES, Petrobras, Secretaria Especial das Mulheres, Bayer, Childhood 2 introduction During the shooting of the documentary Teen Mothers, in 2005, about low- income teenage pregnancy in Brazil, Sandra Werneck read Corner Girls – A diary about the Dreams, Trials and Adventures of Six Adolescents in Brazil, written by the journalist Eliane Trindade. Upon reading the first chapter, the director immediately recognized the book’s potential for a cinema adaptation. The work presents intimate and personal accounts of adolescents who found in prostitution a way to survive. While the book narrates the lives of six girls, the script of Stolen Dreams portrays three characters. The protagonists of the feature film – Jessica, Sabrina and Daiane – live in a low-income community in Rio de Janeiro. Their daily lives are similar to those of many young women in other regions of Brazil, where dysfunctional families, early pregnancy, domestic violence, lack of education and the banalization of life are common factors. Despite their unfavorable social context, they do not give up on dreaming, just like any young women from other social realities. The feature film deals with the impact of social exclusion in the lives of children and adolescents, with a focus on the issue of sexuality. Stolen Dreams is above all a film about desire, loss, passion and friendship as experienced by three adolescents. Since the early stages of script development, the intent of the film has been to simply follow the life trajectories of the adolescents instead of judging them. “This is not a denunciation film. Of course it portrays situa- tions that demand reflection, but the film veers into various directions, and it is built upon affectionate relationships, friendships and decisions such as having a child or not”, says director Sandra Werneck. 3 4 short synopsis Jessica, Sabrina and Daiane have dreams like all young women in the world. They live in a low-income community in Rio de Janeiro, sometimes working as prostitutes in order to survive and satisfy their consumer desires. However, even in this context of absolute uncertainty and lack of hope, they insist on loving, having fun and dreaming of a better future. long synopsis With poetic sensibility, Stolen Dreams tells the story of three adolescents who live in a peripheral neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. Dysfunctional families, early pregnancy and lack of money are daily realities. They end up turning to prostitution as a solution. Even under such circumstances, they have a great sense of humor as they make decisions and try to enjoy life as it is: a new boyfriend, a funk party or a dreamed of mp3 player. Jessica (Nanda Costa) divides her time between taking care of her grand- father Horacio (Nelson Xavier) and her daughter Britney, whose father is Andresson (Silvio Guindane), an evangelical devotee. Daiane (Amanda Diniz) is always trying to win the affection of her father, Mr. Germano (Angelo Antônio), a distant man who is reluctant to help her give a 15th birthday bash. Sabrina (Kika Farias) completes the trio from Stolen Dreams and falls in love with a drug dealer from the community. Despite all their problems, the girls try to achieve their dreams. They make sure they have fun by going to funk parties or skipping school to go to the beach. The three friends talk to each other about their problems, which include the lack of teachers in their public schools as well as the difficulties of prostituting themselves to older men. Stolen Dreams shows the specific issues of low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro, but also touches upon universal dilemmas experienced by all low-income adolescents despite the cities they live in. 5 the director Sandra Werneck’s directing career includes short, medium and feature docu- mentary and fiction films. Cazuza – Time Doesn’t Stop, co-directed by Walter Carvalho, was one the most celebrated Brazilian films in the past decade, with three million viewers in Brazil. Her romantic comedies Little book of Love and Possible Loves were also box office hits in Brazil and won national and international prizes. Possible Loves was awarded the Best Latin-American Film Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, in 2001. Although Sandra Werneck is known by the public for her romantic films and the cine-biography of Cazuza, she started her career directing non-conventional format documentaries on strong social themes such as Prison Sentence, Rites of Passage, Ladies of the Night, Profession: Child, Kids’ War and the most recent Teen Mothers. Stolen Dreams is based on the book Corner Girls – A diary about the Dreams, Trials and Adventures of Six Adolescents in Brazil, by Eliane Trindade. Why did you decide to adapt this story for the cinema? I read a story about Eliane’s book in the newspaper when my last documen- tary about early pregnancy, Teen Mothers, was coming out. I bought the book that same day and quickly read it. After that I decided to call Eliane and ask her for the book rights. At that moment I decided that my next fiction feature was going to be on that theme. You already had become familiar with the theme while making the documentary Teen Mothers. What was it like getting to know this context? The best laboratory I could ever have hoped for was to be in contact with the girls from my documentary, in their environment. I was able to absorb a lot of material to construct the characters and the sets for Stolen Dreams. And I also read the book over and over, many times. Why did you choose actresses that were fairly unknown for the roles of the protagonists? I have always considered it a challenge to work with actors or actresses with little or no media exposure. They bring something refreshing to the film and always try really hard to find their characters. 6 How was the work of cast preparation and the choice of the actresses? I held many film auditions with known and unknown actresses. Many of the girls came from different communities, from Nós do Morro. I also held audi- tions with practically unknown actresses that were recommend to me. The film also stars Brazilian dramaturgy icons such as Daniel Dantas, Angelo Antônio, Marieta Severo and Nelson Xavier. How was their relationship with the protagonists during the shooting? It was wonderful to bring together experienced professional actors and the girls. They all contributed the best way possible in order to make the girls feel at ease on the set to act their roles. Eliane’s book tells the story of six girls, but you chose to focus on three of them in the film. Why did you make this choice? The reason why I chose three characters is simply because when you have too many characters it is not possible to give depth to the story. What I did was to take the best of each of the six girls in the book. I mixed the stories up and ended up with the trajectories of Jessica, Daiane and Sabrina. Although the story takes place in a community in Rio de Janeiro, this reality can be seen in other places in Brazil, right? The stories of these girls take place all the time in many communities in any Brazilian region. Themes such as pedophilia, teen pregnancy and dysfunctional families are in the news all the time. Is Stolen Dreams a way to shed light on the importance of these social issues? Of course, but that is not all. This film also transports you to a context where there is joy, solidarity and friendship. The soundtrack is an important element in the film. Can you talk about that? I invited Fabio Mondengo, Fael Mondengo and Marco Tommaso to do the soundtrack because I loved the work they did for My Name Isn’t Johnny. The Stolen Dreams soundtrack has a lot of Brazilian rhythms such as funk, pagode, samba, chorinho. At the end of the process I thought the film needed a theme song so I called João Nabuco. He composed a funk song with Antonio Villeroy and Eugenio Dale, which is interpreted by Maria Gadú and MV Bill. They sung a beautiful duet. 7 You work with Walter Carvalho in this film once more. How do you work together? Walter and I have been working together for over 20 years. We already have ours codes on the set and a very creative partnership. director of photography A prize-winning director of photography, Walter Carvalho has an outstanding career in Brazilian cinema. He has already worked with great national cinema names such as Glauber Rocha (Jorjamado no Cinema), Nelson Pereira dos Santos (Cinema de Lágrimas), Walter Salles (Behind the Sun, The First Day, Central Station, Foreign Land, Socorro Nobre and Krajcberg, o poeta dos vestí- gios) and Sandra Werneck (Little Book of Love, Possible Loves and Cazuza – Time Doesn’t Stop, which he co-directed with Sandra).