THE FIRST DAY
Brazil-France

  23/10 22:00 ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 1
25/10 21:00 ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 1


     In a prison in Rio, an old inmate, a blend of wisdom and madman, ventures a prophecy: "The year 2000 will be the year of liberty. We must do what has to be done." John, a boy from one of the countless Rio shanty towns resolves to take the words of the old man literally. Sentenced to thirty years in jail, he agrees to shoot his best friend to earn his freedom.

     Maria was abandoned by her husband with no explanation whatsoever. Bitter, she roams the city aimless and bereft of all hope. At midnight on the thirty-first of December, 1999, Maria meets João on the top of a building on Copacabana beach. She is at her very limits, and he is about to do away with himself.

   
 
Director : Daniela Thomas e
Walter Salles
Screenplay : Walter Salles,
Daniela Thomas
Cinematographer : Walter Carvalho
Edition : Felipe Lacerda, Isabelle Rathery
Cast : Fernanda Torres, Luís Carvalho Vasconcelos, Mateus Nachtergaele, Nelson Sargento, Carlos Vereza
Co-Production : Video Filmes, Rio Filmes, La Sept Arte
Production : Haut et Court - 38, rue des Martyrs - Paris F-75009 Tel.: 1 5531-2727 Fax: 1 5531-2728
World Sales : Celluloid Dreams - 24, rue Lamartine - Paris F-75009 Tel.: 1 4970-8370 Fax: 1 497-871
  Col., 75 min., 1999
 

        
Daniela Thomas was born in Rio de Janeiro and studied film-making in London. Her first film as Director of features together with Walter Salles was Terra Estrangeira, of which she is also co-script-writer. Playwright, scenographer, and costume designer, she was resident artist of the La MaMa Experimental Theater in New York.

        
Walter Salles began his career making documentaries. In 1991, he made A Grande Arte, selection of the 15th Mostra. In 1995, he directed the award-winning documentary Socorro Nobre and the feature Terra Estrangeira. His film Central do Brasil was the first Brazilian film to be awarded the Urso de Ouro at the Berlin Film Festival, in 1998.