Luís Parras

In 1996, filmmaker André Luiz Oliveira started preproduction of Viva o Povo Brasileiro, a film adaptation of the novel by João Ubaldo Ribeiro. Principal photography went on for nine years, but the production was shut down after a series of unfortunate events. This documentary retells that story, repurposing the fictional footage and chronicling the work both in front and behind the scenes.

The film tells the saga of Guima, a young poet who believes he suffers from “solar ultra violence” during the hottest summer in 50 years in Salvador. The alleged disease is caused by the relentless heat that hits the city. Under the marginal eyes of Guima, in a mix of reality and fantasy, the film presents a tropical/chaotic Salvador, as opposed to the stereotypical city seen in postcards, on a journey of a search for a redemptive air conditioning that can rid this contemporary antihero of what suffocates his existence.