Lereby Produções and Lata Filmes present EXECUTIVE ORDER A Film by Lázaro Ramos Brazil / 2020 / 94 min / Color Portuguese, with English subtitles Festival Press Kit Publicity Contact Worldwide Sales Contact Matt Johnstone Publicity Elo Company Matt Johnstone Carolina Sganzerla +1 323 938 7880 +55 11 3021 3594 [email protected] [email protected] LOGLINE In a dystopian near future in Brazil, an authoritarian government orders all citizens of African descent to move to Africa – creating chaos, protests, and an underground resistance movement that inspires the nation. SHORT SYNOPSIS Set in a dystopian near future in Rio de Janeiro, a lawyer (Alfred Enoch from the 'Harry Potter’ blockbusters and ‘How To Get Away With Murder') sues the Brazilian government for reparation of all descendants of African slaves in the country. The authoritarian regime responds by signing an executive order forcing all black citizens to move to Africa. While the army and police enforce martial law, he inspires an underground movement, enlisting his cousin (played by international musical icon Seu Jorge) and wife (Taís Araújo, one of Brazil’s leading actresses). The three of them fight the madness that has taken over the country and spark a resistance that changes the nation. EXECUTIVE ORDER is the directorial debut of one of Brazil’s most acclaimed actors, Lázaro Ramos. PRINCIPAL FILMMAKERS & CAST Director Lázaro Ramos Screenplay Lusa Silvestre, Lázaro Ramos, Aldri Anunciação and Elísio Lopes Jr Producers Daniel Filho and Tania Rocha Cinematography Adrian Teijido Art Director Tiago Marques Editing Diana Vasconcellos Sound Editing Waldir Xavier Executive Producer Mariza Figueiredo Original Soundtrack Plínio Profeta, Rincon Sapiência and Kiko de Souza Productions Companies Lereby Produções and Lata Filmes Co-Production Companies Globo Filmes and Melanina Acentuada Associate Producer Claudia Bejarano Principal Cast: Antônio Alfred Enoch Capitu Taís Araujo André Seu Jorge Isabel Adriana Esteves Izildinha Renata Sorrah Sarah Mariana Xavier Santiago Pablo Sanábio DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY Lázaro Ramos, Director / Co-Writer Lázaro Ramos was born on November 1, 1978, in Salvador, Bahia. He is an actor, presenter, producer, director and author who, over the last 20 years has received more than 70 awards and has played almost one hundred characters in cinema, theater and television, and has published five books. He has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2009, and is well known in Latin America for his commitment to humanitarian causes. In 2017, he was elected as one of the most influential Afro-descendants in the world under the age of 40 by MIPAD (Most Influential People of African Descent) and received his award at the UN headquarters in New York. Ramos started acting in a theater group called Bando de Teatro Olodum, in his home state, which he revisited in 2018 to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the group by co-directing the documentary “Bando, Um Filme De:” with Thiago Gomes. Since 2015 he has directed, acted and produced the play “The Mountaintop” in which he plays Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His career in cinema includes more than 30 films. One of his most successful movies was the acclaimed “Madame Satã” (2002) and other titles such as “Carandiru” (2003) and “Tudo que Aprendemos Juntos” (2015) – which was shown in more than 20 countries including Canada, Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Japan – and the recent “Beijo no Asfalto” (2018) for which he received the Best Actor award at the International Filmmaker Festival in New York. On television, he has played several memorable characters. For the Brazilian soap opera “Cobras & Lagartos” (2006) he was nominated for an International Emmy Award for best actor. He also starred in the soap operas “Duas Caras” (2007) and “Lado a Lado” (2012) both awarded the Emmy for best soap opera. In recent years, he has starred in the TV serie “Mr. Brau”, which was aired for four seasons between 2015 and 2018. The series established itself as a landmark in Brazilian television, with positive reviews all around the world in renowned periodicals such as The Guardian and others. Ramos has received a letter from President Barack Obama congratulating and recognizing him as an Influential Personality. Others honors and awards were received at the Toulouse Festival in France in 2007 and the Lima Film Festival in 2016 in Peru. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Lázaro Ramos, Director / Co-Writer What was your initial inspiration for co-writing and directing Executive Order? It’s important to know that this isn’t the first time I talk about the condition of the black people in the world. I started my career in a theater group called “Bando de Teatro Olodum” where there were only black actors and we thought of it on a daily basis. After that, when I started to go solo, I’ve made films – as an actor – that treated about this theme. I also wrote a best seller book entitled “Na Minha Pele” (On my skin) that is in some part autobiographical, sometimes reflective of this theme. I directed and acted on “The Mountaintop”, a theater play about Martin Luther King. I’ve been hosting a TV show for fifteen years on cable TV where I promote debates on this subject constantly. Why am I saying all that? Because there’s a history of experience about it that makes me satisfied by one side, but at the same time I find myself obliged to discover other ways to talk about it. This film is a result of a build up of my experiences and an attempt to find another way to debate this matter. What were your cinematic, artistic, literary and political influences in making the film? My first inspiration was the theater play [The Mountaintop] that was an unexpected hit for me, because when we decided to make it, we thought it would only be interesting for a niche of people and it would be showing for only a month. This play ended up running for five years. What the audiences told us during these five years taught us what would be the best way to make this transition to films. The debate on the theatrical audience brought inspiration to start making cinema. Besides that, because it was a movie that I started thinking seven years ago, there was nothing like it at that time. It’s a film that talks about racial conditions mixing genres: comedy, thriller and drama. Naturally I used to watch Spike Lee movies as inspirations, African movies as well, but yet, at that time, this film I’d like to make didn’t fit the mold of any of those films I spoke exactly. When Jordan Peele comes with Get Out some years ago I was in the middle of the process with my movie, then I understood there was another way for this. I don’t want to compare it with the films the he makes but I think they may belong to the same family. Of course it was very inspiring too. What do you want audiences to take away from watching Executive Order? I expect audiences to dig into all its layers. It’s not a movie that brings only one message. It has micro messages all over it, for the casting choices, the diversity of people it has, the diversity of themes it has, lots of questions that are raised but not concluded. This is the proposition: to be reflective and make people get emotionally involved about this subject. I expect the audiences to catch all of them and mobilize themselves once they are out of the screening room. What is the political and cultural significance of the film for Brazil, and for the world in general? This is a gathering of many high-quality professionals. Numerically it has 77 actors in just one movie. For our country, Brazil, it’s a great victory. The team involved in this process is very relevant and got together to tell this story. It’s important to tell the world the power of our market that in this moment is in the middle of a crisis. I mean it in production matters. Politically – though it was unintended because it was written seven years ago – it dialogues with fundamental questions of today, latent questions of our country: racism, the way of expressing affection, the relationship between the law and the people’s desires, how we – black people – want to be represented dramaturgically... It’s all there! It shows up even though I’d written it so long ago. Its political significance is to put so many black actors, in great part, speaking freely about themes that are important for them. You are considered one of the best actors of your generation – how did your accomplished and extensive background as an actor inform your directing choices? I was lucky to work with directors that are very inspiring. When I was just 21 years old and had only made theater plays at that time... Times when I still lived in the uncertainty of becoming an actor and doing it for all my life or having to live as a professional in the field of health... And all of a sudden I found a director called Karim Aïnouz, which directed me on Madame Satã that changed the way I perceived my profession. From then on I started making denser movies like Lower City and Carandiru. But there was still a desire within me of not establishing myself only as a one type of actor, so I started experimenting comedies, such as O Homem que Copiava (The Man Who Copied) and Ó Pai, Ó. Then I understood I didn’t have to be restricted to only one genre.