Film Archive

Jahr

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A Bay

Uma baía
Murilo Salles
International Competition 2021
Documentary Film
Brazil
2021
109 minutes
Portuguese (Brazil)
Subtitles: 
English

The Baía de Guanabara is not just any bay: the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro has sprawled around it. Its waste water threatens the rich ecosystem, planes roar along the approach corridors above. These filmic explorations on the margins of the megacity portray various environments that are all connected to the bay in a specific way. The people here are micro-wage earners making a modest living.

At night the lights of the city and the promises of capitalism shine in the distance. To the people living at the periphery, they seem out of reach. In eight chapters this documentary essay meditates on their habitats along the bay, following the repetitive and physically exhausting activities of humans and farm animals. Unusual perspectives, careful camera work and a poignant sound design elevate these observations to a commentary on the crisis in Brazil. Murilo Salles, who won a Silver Dove in Leipzig in 1978 for his debut “These Are the Weapons”, sheds light on the close link between geographical space and social inequality.
Annina Wettstein

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Murilo Salles
Script
Murilo Salles, Eva Randolph, Itauana Coquet
Cinematographer
Léo Bittencourt, Fabrício Mota
Editor
Eva Randolph
Producer
Murilo Salles
Sound
Felipe Luz
Score
João Jabace, Sarah Lelièvre
Nominated for: FIPRESCI Prize, Prize of the Interreligious Jury