Panorama Screens 2024

Betânia, the new production by Salvatore Filmes in co-production with Ventre Studio, tells the story of a midwife who needs to rebuild her life in the middle of Lençóis Maranhenses. The film is written and directed by Marcelo Botta and will have its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival, which takes place between the 15th and 25th of February.

“Debuting at a festival like this is something that can change the film’s career. Even though it is a film that shows a very regional culture, it addresses extremely global aspects and conflicts. Even though it is, in some ways, an almost timeless story, it is, at the same time, a very contemporary film. Even though it is an art film that managed to pass the screening of a huge festival of the highest quality, it is at the same time an accessible, family-friendly, musical and popular film”, comments Botta.

BETÂNIA stars Diana Mattos, who plays the title character, a woman who lives in a desert region not far from the Amazon. As the director said, the film is quite universal, but brings very local marks from Brazilian culture and society.

“There are more than 60 musical moments within the film, including Boi, Reggae Remixes and Tambor de Crioula tunes, among other genres. Maranhão has a gigantic cultural wealth, but perhaps it is a treasure that has not yet been discovered by foreign audiences and by a large part of the Brazilian public outside Maranhão. Being able to show a little of the cultural grandeur of Maranhão to the world is something that makes us extremely happy. Knowing that we are going to bring people from all over the world to feel the Boi tambourine beating deep in their hearts makes me really emotional.”

The cast is entirely made up of actors and actresses from Maranhão – even the French characters are played by French people living in the state. “Most of the cast are in a fiction feature film for the first time. Diana Mattos, the actress who plays the protagonist Betânia, is a civil servant in São Luís and a clown in performances for children. His only appearance in Brazilian cinema was in a close-up of his hand in ‘Carlota Joaquina’ by Carla Camurati.

PRESS:

Read the articles: ESTADÃO (LUIZ CARLOS MERTEN); VARIETY; BLOG DE CARLOS ALBERTO MATTOS; UOL.

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