Central do Brasil
At the heart of this tale of identity and redemption is the evolving relationship between an apathetic and disillusioned middle-aged letter-writer Dora and an orphaned boy Josue, traversing the vast landscapes of Brazil in search of his long-lost father.
Most of the cast and crew had never worked in film before, and one of the leads is a nine-year-old shoe-shine boy who had never even been to a cinema.
This elegiac debut drama from Walter Salles was fuelled by a visceral desire to address the future of his country. Letter-writers are a common fact of life in Brazil, a society steeped in poverty where education and literacy are the exclusive preserve of the privileged few.
