BACURAU

In the near future, somewhere in the sertão of Brazil’s north-east: the village of Bacurau mourns Carmelita, its matriarch, who has died at the age of ninety-four. A few days later the inhabitants discover that their village has vanished from the maps. A drone shaped like a UFO circles above the houses. Then armed strangers appear, led by a German (Udo Kier), and begin hunting the villagers one by one. What begins as a puzzle turns into a siege – and the village, home also to the doctor Domingas (Sônia Braga), must defend itself. “Bacurau” (Brazil, 2019) was co-directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles.

Half science fiction, half western, the film uses the forms of genre cinema to expose Brazil’s social fault lines; its premise recalls the hunting of men in “The Most Dangerous Game”. At the Cannes Film Festival 2019, “Bacurau” screened in competition and won the Jury Prize, shared with “Les Misérables”. The film was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2019 in the Brazilian Night section.

Shown at the 2019 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2019 · Film Archive