A Mãe

"Cristiano Burlan is a filmmaker who knows how to talk about absence. In his films, whether documentary or fiction, the theme always appears in some way. And it could not be different with 'The Mother'. Here, he tells the story of Maria (Marcelia Cartaxo), a hardworking Northeastern woman who lives as a street vendor in São Paulo. Her life changes, however, when her son disappears after leaving with a friend from the neighborhood, in the outskirts of the city. From then on, she begins an incessant search not only to find the boy, but to discover what happened to him. Cartaxo is the soul of 'The Mother': her performance passes through a deep pain, full of sensitive and emotional moments. Seeing her on screen is to see a powerful actress, who masters her art like few others. In addition, Burlan is in the direction. He, who has already been widely praised with documentaries such as 'Elegy of a Crime' and 'Ants of the End', brilliantly masters the themes addressed here: loneliness, forced absence, state terrorism, violence. All this arises naturally, with a painful realism, and that manages to connect with the reality of Brazil abroad, here and there."