- Brazil
CINEMA, ASPIRINS AND VULTURES
Synopsis
Brazil, 1942. In the country’s north-east, where drought is driving people away, two men meet: Johann, a German who has escaped the war in Europe, and Ranulpho, a Brazilian who wants to leave the parched region. Johann drives a truck from village to village, showing films to residents who have never seen a cinema – in order to sell them aspirin, the new wonder drug. Ranulpho signs on with him in exchange for a ride to Rio de Janeiro. “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures” is the feature debut of the Brazilian Marcelo Gomes, from 2005.
The film tells the two men’s journey as a road movie through the sertão, in which a war refugee and a drought refugee must explain their foreignness to each other. It premiered in 2005 in Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section and was submitted by Brazil for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2006.
Festival
Shown at the 2006 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
