Curitiba No Cinema: Alguns Planos

Isolation colonies kept thousands of leprosy patients inmates. In Brazil, hundreds of them still remain in these institutions where they were compulsorily taken from a policy based on secular prejudice and hygienist methods.

This observational documentary was realized by filmmakers at the State University of Paraná. It follows the Federal University of Paraná’s Téssera Dance Company in black-and-white images as the group’s members prepare the dance piece “Black Dog”, a work about confronting depression, in June of 2017. The film’s story, structured in chapters, presents archetypal characters overcoming individual crises for the sake of collective expression. “The pack must walk together”, says the company’s stern but compassionate leader, within the context of a pedagogical work about the importance of a show going on.

The widower João declares his loneliness on a radio program and meets Maria, a recently separated woman who yearns for a new life together.