A Festa de Menina Morta (aka The Dead Girl’s Feast)
Director: Matheus Nachtergaele
Year: 2008
Country: Brazil
Duration: 115 minutes
Print Source: Spier Films
Set in the heart of the Amazon, A Festa de Menina Morta tells the story of Santinho (an award winning performance from Daniel de Oliveira), an unlikely local who has been venerated as a saint. Santinho lives with his father in a house in which he is surrounded by women who serve the short-tempered saint by cooking, cleaning, and even dressing him.
The locals see Santinho as a conduit to another world; they come to him for blessings and to be healed. Perhaps most importantly his visions form the basis for the Dead Girl’s Feast, an economic lifeline for the rural community. However, as the 20th annual feast approaches and people start to prepare for the celebrations it becomes apparent that all is not proceeding as planned.
A Festa de Menina Morta combines emotionally intense performances with a visual aesthetic that dances between verite style immediacy and carefully staged set pieces. With its raw themes of religious, social, and sexual transgression, this film is testament to the power of contemporary South American cinema.
Awards
2008 Silver Hugo, Best New Director, Chicago International Film Festival
2008 Special Jury Award, Kikito Critics Prize, Golden Kikito, Gramado Film Festival
2008 Premiere Brazil, Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival