Memory House / Casa de antigüedades (en)

Memory House
  • Memory House

Chosen in: 

Original version: 

Portugais

First movie: 

Premier film

Director: 

João Paulo Miranda Maria

Country: 

  • Brazil
  • France

Year: 

2019

Length: 

87 min

Scriptwriter: 

João Paulo Miranda Maria

Editor: 

Benjamin Mirguet

Composer: 

Nicolas Becker

Director of photography: 

Benjamín Echazarreta

Actors: 

Antonio Pitanga, Ana Flavia Cavalcanti, Sam Louwyck

Production: 

Coproduction: 

Synopsis : 

Cristovam, a native from the Brazilian hinterland, works in a milk factory in a former Austrian colony in Brazil.  He feels lonely, ostracized by cultural and ethnic differences. One day, he discovers an abandoned house filled with objects that remind him of his origins. He slowly settles in this house. Curiously, more objects start to appear without explanation, as if the place was  «alive».

Prix: 

PRIX DES DISTRIBUTEURS ET EXPLOITANTS EUROPÉENS au festival Cinélatino 2020

Supports: 

CNC – Aide aux Cinémas du Monde (confirmed) - Hubert Bals Europe  (confirmed) - FSA  Brasilian Fund (confirmed) - Aide après-réalisation Ile-de-France - TBC.

João Paulo Miranda Maria

Director's biography: 

João Paulo Miranda Maria was born in 1982 in Porto Feliz (Sao Paulo), inland city of Brazil. He graduated in Cinema and Master by Unicamp. João is a Teacher at UNIMEP University and coordinates a film collective called Kino-Olho in the city of Rio Claro, São Paulo. His cinema is inspired by the countryside reality where he lives. After participating in Critic’s Week – Next Step LAB, in partnership with Torino Film LAB, he developed Memory House at the Cinéfondation residency in Paris. Memory House is his first feature.

Filmography: 

2015 - Command Action - Fiction - 14 min.
2016 - The Girl Who Danced With the Devil - Fiction - 14 min.
2017 - Meninas formicida - Fiction - 14 min.

Production notes: 

I first met Joao Paulo at a Cannes FF workshop. I was struck by the unique way he approached narration as well as by his one-of-a-kind visual style. He developped the film at the Cinefondation residency program. The movie was shot in July-August 2019 in Brazil and is actually post-product in France. Many sales agents requested to see Joao Paulo’s first feature film.