Maurílio Martins

The inhabitants of the Brazilian city of Contagem yearn for a better life. At the core of it all is Selma, a woman dreaming about the heart of the world: it could be anywhere, as long as it's a place where to feel happier.

The inhabitants of the Brazilian city of Contagem yearn for a better life. At the core of it all is Selma, a woman dreaming about the heart of the world: it could be anywhere, as long as it's a place where to feel happier.

The inhabitants of the Brazilian city of Contagem yearn for a better life. At the core of it all is Selma, a woman dreaming about the heart of the world: it could be anywhere, as long as it's a place where to feel happier.

In order to take a new job as an employee in the public sanitation department, Juliana moves from the inner city of Itaúna to the metropolitan town of Contagem in Brazil. While waiting for her husband to join her, she adapts to her new life, meeting people and discovering new horizons, trying to overcome her past.

Bia just turned eighteen. The end of the year is coming and also the ACTs. People at school and Bia’s parents are pressuring her to decide which graduation she will apply for. Bia doesn’t want to do anything.

With its obvious simplicity, the film’s title happens to set the mood of the film, or at least its guiding principle: staying anchored in everyday life. More precisely, the life of Maria José and Norberto, who have been married for 35 years and who live in Contagem, in the suburbs of Belo Horizonte. Their marriage is on the rocks, which leads their two sons to also wonder about the future of their own relationships with their wives. The story is quite ordinary. How can one capture such an impercep- tible shift in the heart of the banality of things, only made more noticeable by a crisis? Filming his own family, his own parents, his brother and himself, André Novais Oliveira has chosen to take his time. He shots long sequences, leaving enough time for the fictional situations on which he puts his characters to grow and unfold. Then he uses wide frames to linger on more mundane, concrete or at times farcical moments: eating an orange, cooking, watching television...

With its obvious simplicity, the film’s title happens to set the mood of the film, or at least its guiding principle: staying anchored in everyday life. More precisely, the life of Maria José and Norberto, who have been married for 35 years and who live in Contagem, in the suburbs of Belo Horizonte. Their marriage is on the rocks, which leads their two sons to also wonder about the future of their own relationships with their wives. The story is quite ordinary. How can one capture such an impercep- tible shift in the heart of the banality of things, only made more noticeable by a crisis? Filming his own family, his own parents, his brother and himself, André Novais Oliveira has chosen to take his time. He shots long sequences, leaving enough time for the fictional situations on which he puts his characters to grow and unfold. Then he uses wide frames to linger on more mundane, concrete or at times farcical moments: eating an orange, cooking, watching television...

Zilda has had to put up with too much crap and she ain't taking it anymore.

Another day in the life of an elderly couple in the suburbs.

Another day in the life of an elderly couple in the suburbs.

Luiza will turn 15. Raquel has some dreams.

Luiza will turn 15. Raquel has some dreams.

Pilo, Panda and Isaac are childhood friends. One of them decides to ask his girlfriend to marry him at sameday the other two learn she is cheating on him with her gym instructor

The trajectory of Nelson Prudêncio, the black boy from Lins, who became an athlete only at the age of 20 and became one of the protagonists of the epic final of the triple jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, the biggest that the sport has ever seen.

An event, four people and the city of Contagem.

An event, four people and the city of Contagem.

An event, four people and the city of Contagem.

A man waits on the top of his house's roof with his friend. They are talking to each other until this friend realises something quite strange.

A look at the rock band Pelos de Cachorro.

An elderly woman films what she doesn't want to forget.