Cinema Tropical and Cinema 23 are launching a new series of collaborations comprising of interviews and texts on Latin American cinema with English translations. The first in this series is a special interview with Brazilian filmmakers João Dumans and Affonso Uchôa on their feature film Araby / Arábia, conducted by Argentine journalist Diego Lerer.
A favorite in over 50 international film festivals, including New Directors/New Films and Rotterdam, Araby is an epistolary ode to labor, love, and storytelling. A New York Times Critics' Pick and winner of numerous international awards—including the Cinema Tropical Award for best Latin American film of the year—Araby is a stirring glimpse into the exciting revitalized cinema from Brazil.
André, a teenager, lives in an industrial town in the southern state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, near an old aluminum factory. One day, a factory worker, Cristiano, suffers an accident. Asked to go to Cristiano’s house to pick up clothes and documents, André stumbles on a notebook, and it’s here that Araby begins — or, rather, transforms.
As André reads from the journal entries, we are plunged into Cristiano’s life, into stories of his wanderings, adventures, and loves. Beautifully written and filmed, Araby is a fable-like and lyrical road movie about a young man who sets off on a ten-year journey in search of a better life.
Watch the interview:
English translation by Pilar Garrett and Juliana Corsetti.
