André, a teenager, lives near an old aluminium factory in Brazil. One day a factory worker, Cristiano, suffers an accident. Asked to go to his house to pick up his belongings, André stumbles on a notebook. As he reads from the journal entries, we are plunged into Cristiano’s life and adventures.

A Brazilian wonder of hybrid cinema, Araby gives a voice to marginal people and focuses on the grace and poetry of everyday life. The film’s nonprofessional cast borrowed from their own reality, helping the film transcend the usual misrepresentations. A vital paean to working-class heroes.