Pau Brasil

Joaquim and Nives live with their families in a small, forgotten community. The former is a down-and-out travelling salesman, living with his wife Ercilia and their three daughters. Obsessed with disciplining his daughters, he frequently beat them as well as sexually harassing them, his wife merely a silent witness. In the house next door, Nives, an old, wise and gentle carpenter, lives with his young and beautiful wife, Juraci. His son Berico, the white couple’s black child, is smart and has an almost spiritual relationship with nature. Juraci freely exercises her sexuality whilst having a meaningful relationship full of love with Nives. Juraci’s sexual freedom and Berico’s dark skin generate hurtful gossip and discrimination, especially encouraged by Joaquim and by Gouveia, the grocery store owner whose riches increase at the cost of the poor. The conflict between different lifestyles leads to tension that will change the lives of the whole community. —33ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema