Ahmad Kontar

Rio de Janeiro is a city that attracts people from all over the world. Francisco is a native of Rio who does his best to explain the customs and lifestyle of the Carioca population to foreigners who feel lost in the big city.

During the siege of their city, a group of ordinary people struggle to survive amid hunger, snipers, and bombardments, while clinging to human connection, love, and small daily pleasures. Faced with impossible moral choices and deep psychological strain, their lives become inseparable from the siege itself.

A dodo, a bird that disappeared 3000 years ago, makes its appearance in Athens in the luxurious residence of a family on the verge of ruin for which the countdown has begun: the 38 crucial and saving hours that separate them from the marriage of their daughter with a rich heir. The boundaries between reason and madness will be tested and the situation will soon be out of control.

An American writer has to learn the quirks of Rio de Janeiro’s people after moving to the Brazilian city.