Ultra Baby

The story of seven free women who remain captives in the name of love. In love with inmates, they live the limitations of the relationship and the hope of one day starting a family outside. The film addresses this universe through emotional confidences, letters lovingly decorated and a privileged access to the intimacy of the couples.

Camila is a Portuguese therapist who works at Rio de Janeiro State University, where she attends Glória, the university's elevator operator. Throughout the sessions, Camila faces a very violent reality, since Glória was raped by her own father as a child and her brother Jonas is a dangerous bandit that is in prison. Increasingly frightened by the reports she hears, she feels threatened at the same time that Glória sees her as essential in her life.

A documentary about the Rio de Janeiro police killings praticed as so-called "self-defense acts". The film follows people who deal with those deaths in their daily lives, showing how Brazil's Federal Government deals with these cases, from the police investigations to the courtrooms.

Pregnant women from the paradise island of Fernando de Noronha, 360km off the Brazilian coast, are separated from their families and workplaces and sent to the mainland 12 weeks before giving birth. Pressure is brought upon those who resist. Their babies are not made welcome in their forebears’ lands. Without any reasonable explanation, the government has been denying the right of permanent residence to children of native people. Meanwhile, tourism is attracting more and more celebrities and outside investors to the island.

What makes a free woman choose a prisoner to develop a loving relationship? “The Visit” is a film about love in this special condition. Among the characters, some met their partners in the penitentiary; others had been visiting their husbands for decades. They feel valued by them and say they are well loved. They are women who insist on a relationship full of constraints and privations, even suffering various consequences of this option on a daily basis. In this film the prison universe is almost exclusively present in the report of the women, and never from the point of view of the husbands.

The Birth of a baby is a very special moment and it’s no different for the reborn moms, with the difference that their children come by means of storks. This is the name given to artisans who turn vinyl molds into hyper-realistic dolls. The narrative follows as a production line, going through the process of manufacturing, industrial and craft, which gives the dolls hyper-realistic features. And it approaches end consumers, collectors or people who adopt care routines, just like we give away to our children. A film about the pure and simple feeling of motherhood – and the market that grows around it.

Looking for the memory of an old vacant house, a camera hunts for traces of the persons that lived there. Family images contrast the liveliness and abandonment.

Venetian gondola installed in an artificial lake moves the life of a small town in southern Santa Catarina where 95% of the 13 thousand inhabitants are descendents of Italians from the Veneto region. Only four gondolas were officially donated by Italy, the others are in Toronto/Canada, Saint Petersburg/Russia, and Las Vegas/USA. The documentary recovers the history of the coming of this gondola to Brazil and reflects on why it rekindled the sense of Italian identity in the town. They even have the “Carnival of Venice”, and the festivity gathers hundreds of masked party goers in costumes made by local artisans.