CinemaProductor defines laughter and knife as ‘rare and precious’ after debut in cannescoproduction between Portugal, Brazil, Romania and France has Brazilians in the team; Rolling Stone Brazil talked to producer Tatiana Leitepor

Brazilian cinema was present at the 78th edition of the Cannes Festival with The laughter and the knife (I only rest in the storm), feature film directed by Portuguese Pedro Pinho (Djon Africa) Displayed on the prestigious show un Ces certain regard.

The international co -production between Portugal, Brazil, Romania and France has the participation of 31 Brazilian professionals, including the producer Tatiana Leite and the director of photography Ivo Lopes Araújo. Inspired by the homonymous song of Tom Zéthe film had its world debut in Cannes and celebrates the strength of Lusophone collaboration on the global film scene.

What is the story of The laughter and the knife?

The laughter and the knife Narrates Sérgio’s trajectory, a Portuguese environmental engineer who, when working on a road project between the jungle and the desert, is involved with two local inhabitants: Diára and Gui. Gui’s role is interpreted by the Brazilian Jonathan Guilhermeformer volleyball athlete who today acts as a poet and actor in Barcelona, ​​alongside Portuguese Sergio Courage and Cape Verdean Cleo Diára. Brazilian production is signed by Bubbles Project, with national distribution of showcase films.

In addition to Jonathanother Brazilian names integrate the cast and the technical team, such as the anthropologist Renato Sztutmanthe automaker KAREN AKERMANthe sound editor Pablo Lamar and the producer Tatiana Leite. Rolling Stone Brazil talked to Tatiana About the challenges of co -production, the debut in Cannes, as well as the political role of the work and the strength of Brazilian cinema in the project. Check it out:

The importance of co -producing countries

From the beginning, The laughter and the knife It was thought of as an international co -production, articulating Brazil, Portugal, Romania and France, revealed the producer. Tatiana Leite says that the director Pedro Pinhostill in the first sketches of the script, already glimpsed the collaboration between different countries. “The Portuguese invited me to enter this beginning. Soon after, we got France and Romania“, remember.

Romanian participation was especially strategic: “Romania is super important because we were going to film on film and they have excellent laboratories of revelation and post-production”In the Brazilian case, in addition to the historic film relationship with Portugal, there was also a very personal artistic motivation.

Pedro always wanted a Brazilian character, and the theme of the film is very pertinent compared to Brazil. Another very important reason is the fact that Pedro wanted to shoot with photographer Ivo Lopes Araújo, so it helped us consolidate this partnership. ”

The value of differences

In a co -production with so many nationalities, it is inevitable that there are creative tensions. To Tatianathis was part of the process and was essential for the end result. “Some cultural differences can bring sometimes very positive and sometimes major challenges in international co -productions”.

But she points out that the environment was mostly collaborative: “Most of the time we did this in a very democratic environment, all producers feeling in a voice of opinion, discussing, questioning…”And values ​​this aspect:“This is also what I consider when a co -production is successful: this mixture, what it brings from extra to a movie”.

The challenges of filming

The journey of The laughter and the knife It was marked by challenges at each stage, the team had to shoot a film in film in the middle of the desert, crossing the covid-19 pandemic. “It is impossible to choose what is the biggest challenge, because the film had a lot of challenges from the beginning to the end”, Tatiana.

It reports the obstacles faced: “We took Covid, who delayed the shoot a lot, then we got the filming with postcovid, all very delicate. The main actor was insolation in the first week of filming”.

In addition to difficult climatic and logistics conditions, there was also the technical complexity: “The act of being filming in film was not so simple to film in Mauritania, then in the villages of Guinea-Bissau… All a big challenge, from end to end”. Even post-production was intense:“The movie was only ready, literally, on the eve of Cannes”.

“Rare and precious“

Tatiana reveals that since the invitation to co -produce, he realized the singular potential of the work. “The moment I realized that this movie would be rare and precious was when the director and the producer called me to co -produce with them. I read the script and found the movie very relevant; The work comes out of our comfort zone while looking and raises thousands of questions”.

In addition to the provocative script, there was an admiration for the director’s trajectory. “I already knew Pedro’s work, who had made a movie called the factory of nowhere, which is amazing, I was hallucinated when I saw a few years ago at the Cannes Festival”. The combination of a powerful theme and the authorial signature of Pedro Pinho It was, according to her, “absolutely irresistible”.

Powerful and provocative

When asked about the topics addressed in the work, Tatiana Recognizes that the film is not intimidated in addressing sensitive topics. “The film really plays the open wounds of colonialism and is not intimidated by raising several questions about this theme”For her, this disposition is essential:“Perhaps it shows that things have progressed much less than you would imagine or desire, thinking of a better humanity”.

The characters of the women who cross the movie are of incredible strength, with a very strong thought and questions and statements, which is rare to me in contemporary cinema, especially a film directed by a man, but produced by many women”.

Tatiana Values ​​the film’s creation methodology, which bet on improvisation and the protagonism of the actors: “Pedro, when making this movie, did not write the script with the dialogues for the actors to decorate, he raised themes… and the actors, some who were not professional, improvised from the themes”For her, this approach generated a genuine and powerful work:“The film is responsible and at the same time pulls for discussion, he is not intimidated and I love it; I find it very important that the cinema has this role of provoking”.

The titles and Tom Zé

Although the film carries a direct reference to the song in the title “The laughter and the knife“, from Tom Zéthe Bahian artist had no direct involvement in the production. “Even if we are all very fans of Tom Zé, Pedro, always, has ruminated the idea that music, laughter and knife is the movie, right?”, Explains Tatiana.

She highlights the relevance of the title: “A world where we are surrounded by contradictions, we are contradictory. I think nothing is more pertinent than this title and this song”. The feature maintained the original title in Portuguese, but also received translations:“In France, we made the literal translation of the title, Le Rire et Le Couteau, but the international title of the movie is I Only Rest in the Storm, which is a phrase of music, that is, it really is a song that is ingrained in what is the movie”.

The debut in Cannes

The selection of The laughter and the knife For the show un certainoin regard was a source of great celebration for Tatiana and the whole team. “Oh, it’s amazing to debut in Un Certain Regard! It is part of the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, so it is a very noble show that, in fact, the name says: collects different eyes about the world and about cinema”.

It also values ​​the plural character of the show: “I had the opportunity to see some other films that are in our competition and they are completely different and super interesting”. Tatiana It also emphasizes the pride of representing Brazil at the festival: “The film is an official co -production with Brazil, it represents Brazil where it is and has a DNA marked by many Brazilians”. And concludes:“It is also a pride for our cinema, because co -production allows us to expand the scope of our cinema”.

Display in Brazil

Although it still cannot announce details about national festivals, Tatiana It anticipates that there are high expectations for the exhibition in Brazil. “Obviously, I can’t say anything now about festivals, but I have a great expectation to debut at Brazilian festivals, maybe doing a double ”suggests.

It also projects the commercial launch: “We imagine that the movie will be on display later this year, distributed by the showcase Filmes”.

Also read:Cleo Diára, from The Laughter and the Knife, is elected best actress at the show un Ceroin Regard in Cannes

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