Maranhão short film "Still Te Amo" wins art direction award at the Caruaru Film Festival

Film from Maranhão “Não Te Amo” wins art direction award at film festival — Photo: Photo: Reproduction/rodaPé Filmes

The Maranhão short film “Não Te Amo” won the award for Best Art Direction at the 13th edition of the Caruaru Film Festival, in Pernambuco. The achievement was announced on Tuesday (1st) on the event's official profiles on social media. The film's art direction is by Patrícia Moreira.

The short competed in Mostra Brasil, a category that brings together free-themed films produced in different Brazilian states and the Federal District, as long as they are set in Brazil and directed by Brazilians.

The festival brought together 39 short films from various regions of the country and also from countries such as Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Chile and the Dominican Republic. The productions were shown free of charge at Teatro João Lyra Filho, in Caruaru, with debates between directors and an awards ceremony with the presentation of the José Condé Trophy.

Directed by Fernando Braga, “Still Te Amo” follows the trajectory of Mário, a man marked by the absence and abandonment of his mother, who finds in the creation of the drag queen character Keitty a way of reconstructing his own story.

In addition to being a screenwriter, Fernando also plays the protagonist of the film. He explained that the choice for the drag universe arose due to the aesthetic strength and symbolic meaning of this artistic expression.

“Drag is not just an artistic expression, it represents a process of emotional reconstruction of the protagonist,” he stated.

According to the actor, one of the challenges of the production was to approach the drag universe with sensitivity, without limiting the character to performance. “The film talks about identity, affection, belonging and healing”, he highlighted.

Construction of the protagonist of “Still I Love You” was marked by challenges

Fernando said that participating in the development of the script helped in the construction of Mário and Keitty, characters who represent different moments in the same trajectory.

"The intention was never to make Keitty erase Mário. On the contrary. Even during the transformation, we preserved physical and behavioral traits that keep his essence present", he explained.

For the artist, the relationship between the two identities is the central point of the narrative. “Keitty was born from Mário and does not exist without him”, he said.

The film is produced by the Maranhão production company Rodapé Filmes and seeks to provoke reflections on abandonment, love, identity and the ways people find to move forward.

“I still love you” puts Maranhão’s audiovisual industry in the spotlight

For Fernando Braga, the award reinforces the growth of audiovisual production produced in Maranhão and the presence of films from the state in national and international festivals.

"Maranhão is experiencing a very important moment for audiovisual. With each new production, we show that we have talented professionals, powerful stories and our own identity for filmmaking", he stated.

The artist also highlighted that the achievements help to increase the visibility of Maranhão productions. “We are building an increasingly stronger market and showing that our stories have quality, personality and the ability to communicate with viewers from anywhere in the world”, he added.