Evandro Soldatelli

A few days after his grandfather's death, young Igor decides to make a documentary about the history of his family in an attempt to understand why his grandfather, Guilhermino, was obsessed with strange facts that had happened in his city. Thus, in 1990, in the interior of the state Rio Grande do Sul, Igor and his father Nilson interview relatives, friends and people involved in the case in an attempt to undo the bad name of his grandfather, but what they find out is a part of the story of the state, unraveling mysteries related to extraterrestrials, failed space programs and a muddled mission of the Cold War.

Porto Alegre, nowadays. At one of the most known streets of Porto Alegre, in exactly 11´10", people pass one another, interact, go on about their and our lives. Fiction and reality working side by side and vice-versa.

Picucha may seem old-fashioned, but she has modern ideas and a great sense of humor. As the matriarch of a big family, she is involved in the daily lives of her children, grandchildren and other relatives. Undeterred by the typical problems of old age, she uses her many years of experience to solve problems in the best way possible.

Bebel is a young woman in a wheelchair who lives with her mother and grandfather in the countryside. To continue her studies, she ends up moving to a big city, where new adversities become part of her life. At school, her involvement in environmental issues quickly leads her to a certain leadership role. However, a powerful local tycoon does not like this environmental activism in his region at all.

Ricardo is 10 years old, lives in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul and has nightmares about Velho do Saco, sort of a Brazilian bogeyman, “who takes out the eyes of misbehaving children”. It is not easy to distinguish truths and lies when the loss of innocence is confused with the loss of sight.

An arrogant young woman, the landowner's daughter, gets involved with the farm straw boss.

Brazil, 1961. In the underground of the Piratini Palace, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Leonel Brizola, awaits a bombing by the Brazilian armed forces. The country is on the verge of a civil war, following the resignation of president Jânio Quadros and the movement to keep vice-president João Goulart from taking office. Using the radio transmitter from his improvised bunker, Brizola sets up the Legality movement, to ensure Goulart's right to the presidential chair. Caught in the crossfire, two brothers who are in love with the same woman unite to fight alongside Brizola.

In the mid-1870s, Jacobina, daughter of German immigrants, became leader of a sect that believed in healing the body by cleansing the soul. After having a divine vision and speaking to Jesus, she changes her appearance and manners, disturbing the conservative population of the place. After the death of opponents of her sect, local authorities decide to take action against her and her followers.

Written in 1625 by the British playwright Ben Jonson, the play “The Staple of News” provides a historic root for this discussion about the role of the press in modern day Brazil. Journalists of several generations discuss the dilemmas of the selection and focus of their subjects, the resistance of the media in accepting itself as a political agent, the inevitability of interpretation as there are no hard facts in nature, and above all the search for an always complex balance between credibility and the public’s growing demand for news.

It tells the story of two contrasting realities in the early 20th century: The construction of a railway in the Amazon rainforest and the glamorous life of Rio de Janeiro, where politicians and big businessmen lived. Consuelo is a young pianist heading toward the Amazon with her husband, Alonso. On the way, the two have an accident, and Alonso ends up losing his life. Alone and helpless, Consuelo gets lost in the middle of the forest, being weak and very sick. However, she ends up being supported by Joe Caripuna, a local Indian who welcomes the girl. The two become great friends, and Joe falls in love with the girl. He takes her to live around the railroad workers' camp, where she meets Dr. Richard Finnegan, who takes care of her health and all the workers who were in a dramatic situation. Richard also falls in love with Consuelo, who repays love, but the difficulties of work and the situations in which they find themselves make it difficult for them to get closer.