Um Beijo para Gabriela

Sinopse: Gabriela Leite é a primeira prostituta de que se tem notícia a concorrer a um cargo eletivo no Congresso brasileiro. “Um Beijo para Gabriela” segue de perto a campanha a deputada federal empreendida por ela contra 822 oponentes em 2010, na qual enfrentou os desafios de um sistema político dominado pelo gênero masculino,para ver se uma prostituta, ativista, esposa, mãe e ícone cultural poderia contrariar a norma e vencer as eleições.

A atividade da prostituta não é ilegal no Brasil, embora o gerenciamento da prostituição, como a posse de um bordel, seja criminalizado, e a profissão sofra de forte estigmatização. Gabriela Leite vem se dedicando a mudar esse contexto há 30 anos, por meio do mais conhecido e controverso movimento de ativismo sexual do país, o de defesa dos direitos das prostitutas, fundado por ela em 1987. Autora de duas autobiografias, a segunda encenada no teatro e em adaptação para o cinema, Gabriela ganhou em 2005 o status de ícone cultural ao criar uma bem-sucedida linha de roupas, a grife Daspu, para promover os direitos das prostitutas e levantar recursos para a organização não-governamental que dirige, Davida.

O documentário acompanha a jornada de Gabriela como líder carismática, por meio de um estilo observador, garantido pelo acesso irrestrito concedido por ela à diretora. No belo e sedutor cenário do Rio de Janeiro, repleto de pôsteres de candidatos homens e brancos, principalmente, a protagonista surge fazendo sua própria campanha, recusando a oferta de um pastor evangélico de captar votos em sua comunidade em troca de dinheiro, cozinhando para o marido, cantando seus sambas favoritos, trabalhando sozinha tarde da noite e chorando ao votar em si própria pela primeira vez. O filme é um retrato intimista de uma mulher marcante cujos motivos de notoriedade e proeminência são os mesmos que tornam remota a possibilidade de sua eleição.

Embora a ativista não tenha sido eleita, em “Um beijo para Gabriela” percebemos que o importante para mulheres como ela, que desafiam estereótipos, não é ganhar ou perder, mas ter a oportunidade de entrar em campo e jogar.

Vencedor do “Best Documentary Pitch” no Fusion Film Festival em Nova Iorque em marco do 2011. Para maiores informações, escreva para laura (at) akissforgabriela.com

Diretora: Amiga de Gabriela desde 2004, a diretora Laura Murray trabalha com grupos internacionais que defendem os direitos das prostitutas como cineasta, ativista e pesquisadora desde 2000. Este é o seu terceiro projeto de documentário sobre sexualidade no Brasil. Laura cursa doutorado em antropologia da medicina na Universidade Colúmbia, escrevendo seu tese sobre ativismo relacionado à prostituição no Brasil.

Equipe. “Um Beijo para Gabriela” é uma co-produção de Rattapallax e Miríade Filmes. O produtor executivo do filme, Ram Devineni, produz filmes exibidos em festivais internacionais de prestígio e é editor e publisher da Rattapallax, uma editora e produtora sem fins lucrativos. Cheryl Furjanic, a produtora, é uma cineasta premiada que, há mais de uma década, leciona produção de vídeo-documentário na New York University. A produtora associada, Beatriz Seigner de Miríade Filmes em São Paulo, é a diretora, produtora e roteirista do filme celebrado pela critica brasileira e internacional, “Bollywood Dream – O Sonho Bollywodiano”. A produção da finalização do filme esta sendo coordenado pela produtora Larissa Bery, de Bruta Flor Produções no Rio de Janeiro.

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Salt in the Air (cіль y повітрі)

Synopsis: Salt is famously “the only rock eaten by humans.” It’s also the only rock inhaled by humans for health benefits. SALT IN THE AIR, a feature-length documentary film, will tell the stories of salt miners, mine engineers, doctors, asthma patients and residents of a small Ukrainian village called Solotvyno, which is located deep in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Romania. A 2,000 year old salt mine exists beneath the town with salt so pure that inhaling it can virtually cure asthma in children. Today, the salt mine is collapsing, the asthma clinics are troubled, the miners have held protests, and the mine director has been fired. Tensions are rising. On May 19, 2011, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych announced that he would “take all necessary measures” to rectify the environmental crisis at the salt mine in Solotvyno, though few believe his claim.

But the subject of salt is larger than salt mining and this environmental crisis in the Carpathian Mountains, and it’s more mysterious. As an icon for life’s wonderful and terrifying magnificence, salt has been equated with the soul and noted as a possible source of life itself. Alchemists claimed it was a combination of water and congealed fire. This reification of a vital material substance presents us with a visceral example of our dependence on the Earth and a reflection of what it means to be human. Similar to air and water, salt is the Earth made palatable or ingestible. While presenting a portrait of a mining town, SALT IN THE AIR will also trace the connection between a huge deposit of salt deep underground and the fragile lungs of an asthmatic child who walks through a small village, far above on the Earth’s surface.

SALT IN THE AIR is nothing less than a story about life, with salt as the centerpiece. The characters engage in conversations about mining, childhood, industry, betrayal, capitalism, corruption, food, health, air and life. SALT IN THE AIR is at once about a small town dealing with profound change and a large question about the meaning of salt to all living beings and to the Earth. In an interview recorded for SALT IN THE AIR, beloved poet Oleh Lysheha tells us, “Salt all the time reminds us of human memory, tears and the bitter taste of great happiness.” Status: Post-production.

ENRICO ROSSINI CULLEN is a film director, producer and writer. He is currently directing a long-form documentary titled SALT IN THE AIR and exec-producing THE HUMAN TOWER. Enrico co-produced PUSHING THE ELEPHANT (2010), which premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York and was broadcast on Independent Lens in March 2011. He was a producer for AN ENCOUNTER WITH SIMONE WEIL (2010), which premiered in competition at IDFA in 2010. He was a consulting producer for ELECTION DAY (POV 2008) and ARCTIC SON (POV 2007). He edited AMAZING GRACE (2004) and HANGING (2004) with artist Wangechi Mutu and he wrote, directed and edited THE MISADVENTURE OF 95 (2005), an original short narrative. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago.

A Kiss for Gabriela

Synopsis: Gabriela Leite is the first known sex worker to run for Brazilian Congress. “A Kiss for Gabriela” (28 minutes) accompanies her 2010 campaign as she faces 822 opponents and challenges the male dominated political system to see if a sex worker, activist, wife, mother, and cultural icon can beat the odds and win the election. Status: Post-production.

Prostitution is a legal profession in Brazil, yet it is still heavily stigmatized. Gabriela Leite has dedicated the past thirty years of her life to trying to change this, making her perhaps the most well known, and controversial, prostitute activist in Brazil. She founded the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes, an NGO for sex worker rights called Davida, has authored two autobiographies, and gained status as a cultural icon after founding Daspu, a clothing line to promote sex worker rights that has been featured in the international mass media. Despite her political activism, her 2010 campaign was the first time she sought to enter the predominantly male and economically privileged circle of Brazilian Federal Deputies.

Combining an observational style with unrestricted access, this 55-minute documentary follows Gabriela’s journey as a charismatic candidate full of contradictions. Scenes of her embarrassed to hand out pamphlets contrast with her openly talking about having had three illegal abortions in campaign speeches. Invitations to exclusive parties are set against her struggle to run a campaign with virtually no money and being evicted from her campaign headquarters in a historic sex motel. Images of her cooking for her husband, refusing a bribe from an Evangelical pastor, behind the scenes at popular television talk shows, singing her favorite sambas, working alone late at night, and crying as she votes for herself for the first time form the backdrop to this intimate portrait of a remarkable woman whose reasons for notoriety and prominence are the same reasons that make the possibility of her election impossible.

Although Rio de Janeiro voters did not elect Gabriela, in “A Kiss for Gabriela,” we see that it is not whether you win or lose, or even how you play. For women like Gabriela that challenge stereotypes and make history with their campaigns, it’s that you’re in the game.

Winner “Best Documentary Pitch” at the Fusion Film Festival in March of 2011. For more information, contact laura (at) akissforgabriela.com

LAURA MURRAY has worked with sex worker rights groups internationally since 2000 as a researcher, activist, and filmmaker. A Kiss for Gabriela is her third documentary film about sexuality in Brazil: she co-produced one about an HIV prevention intervention with sex workers and co-directed and produced a short about a transvestite samba school president living on the border of Brazil and Bolivia that is currently in post-production. Laura is a PhD Candidate in Medical Anthropology at Columbia University where she is writing her dissertation about sex worker activism, media, and citizenship in Brazil. She has published journal articles on sexuality and HIV in Brazil in Social Science and Medicine, Culture Health and Sexuality, and the American Journal of Public Health in addition to a book of the life histories of sex workers in the Dominican Republic.

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The Human Tower

Completed.
A film by Ram Devineni and Cano Rojas.
75 minutes feature documentary.
http://www.thehumantower.com/

Three countries. One passion. Three hundred bodies climbing, reaching the sky to build a human tower — all for a touch of glory. In Mumbai, India, Sandeep, a coach with high dreams and a debilitating case of malaria leads his team of men to break the record and build India’s biggest human tower at the one-day Dahi Handi Festival. In Vilafranca de Penedes, Spain, a group of “castellers”, or climbers formed by men, women and children, dedicate their lives to reach the heavens and share their passion with the world following a tradition that goes back 400 years. An old legendary coach, Melilla, takes his passion to Santiago, Chile, hoping to empower and help the local groups to improve their performances while unifying them as a community. Pressed for time, Melilla needs to prepare the Chilean team for their first public performance at the Universal Forum of Cultures in Valparaiso where they will attempt the first seven-level tower in Chile. Helped by Luis, a very passionate scholar and leader of this initiative in Chile, they develop a plan that will become a symbolic first step to rebuild Chilean society from the bottom up through the human towers. The film cuts between the three countries leading to a major climatic scene that will take your breath away and keep you on the edge of your seats.

In Santiago, Mumbai, and Vilafranca, all it takes is one shaky foot and the human tower falls, sending hundreds of bodies tumbling in the rain or into the mud or onto the crumbling pavement of a forgotten neighborhood. But the makers of these human towers keep starting again for the glory of seeing how high, altogether, they can go. A passion beyond race, borders, and ages. A global story of fearless skills and heart-bounding suspense of immense human towers.

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