after arrives late at work several times and the librarian is fired from his school. The HR employee tasked with presenting him with the bad news gives him a lift, their conversation deepens, and by the end of the night, they have a lot in common, including a shared history of mental health treatment. You will discover things and eventually fall in love.
in the day i met youthe scenario, the professions of the characters, and the actors who play the main characters, Renato Novas and Grace Paz – challenge the conventions of Brazilian romantic cinema.
Directed by Andre Novais Oliveira, Movie – Last Week Received the 2025 APCA Award She won the Best Actress Award at the 2023 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival. It's the latest example of how independent film production companies are reshaping the country's audiovisual landscape by highlighting the experiences of “ordinary” Brazilians.
“Brazilian cinemas don't always think about that person who works as a librarian in a school, who may be experiencing depression, who may fall in love,” says Oliveira. said Gabriel Martins, 37, who was with them. other friends were established Films de plastico (plastic films) 2009.
Maurilio Martins, Thiago Macêdo Correia (Standing), Gabriel Martins, André Novais Oliveira. Photo: Supply
Since then, the company's 26 films (seven features and 19 shorts) have focused on telling the stories of working-class, primarily black characters living in poor urban areas. “This is a segment that quantitatively represents a large portion of Brazil's population, but ironically it is underrepresented across our films,” Martins said.
In 2022, another production directed by Martins became the first film by a black director selected by the Brazilian Academy to represent the country in the race for Best International Feature at the Oscars. Mars One didn't make the shortlist, but it filled movie theaters across the country and was acquired by US filmmaker Ava Duvernay Stream on Netflix.
It tells the story of a black family living on the outskirts of a big city: a father who works as a doorman, a pretty mother, an eldest daughter who decides to move and live with her girlfriend, and a young boy who becomes a soccer player. Despite his father's wishes to study astrophysics and dream his dream rather than colonize Mars.
“Our inspiration comes from our neighbors, who are our families. The countless one- and two-hour bus rides on the way to college or work. We observe these lives and… , it was impossible not to have these stories emerge in our film because we spent so much time living it, ”said the director.
The production company was born from a meeting of 44-year-old Gabriel and Maurio Martins at film school. In addition to sharing a love of movies and the same last name, they discovered that although they are not relatives, they used to take a 10-minute walk to each other in the suburb of Contagem, the capital city of Minas Gerais. .
“People who live in the suburbs of many places, not just Brazil, identify with our films,” said Maurílio, who is also a director and screenwriter. “There are some 'universal' aspects surrounding other places, such as distance from the city centre, lack of decent public transport, and independent architectural style. he added.
The idea to start a production company arose not only from the immediate connection between Martins, Oliveira (the three of them interject in turn as directors and screenwriters, and sometimes as actors) and producer Tiago Made Correia, but also from the It also came from recognition. Young filmmakers in states outside of the bustling audiovisual markets of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo were unlikely to have the opportunity to pursue their creative ambitions.
In 2024, they filmed their most ambitious project yet: a drama for Netflix. “For the first feature we made, in 2014, there were six people on the crew. Now there were days on set where there were 200 people,” says the director who wrote and directed the film, which is still to be released. said Gabriel Martins.
The story once again features the distinctive accent of the Minas Gerais state. In Brazil, audiovisual productions and news programs have long pushed the concept of a “neutral” accent, which is actually the accent of the wealthy states of Rio and São Paulo.
“I've heard people from other states say they can't understand what's being said in our movies,” Maurílio Martins said. “When someone says, 'The audio isn't good,' I respond: 'No, it's your ears that aren't used to this accent. The unfamiliar can be unsettling, but moving forward… It’s our job to keep going,” he added.
