Feature Documentary / 84 min. / Brazil
MY FORTRESS A Feature Documentary by Tatiana Lohmann
T
he action takes place in Vila Flávia, a forgotten slum of São Paulo, where graffiti walls exhibit a main icon: a black mother protecting her children. In this documentary, we see the stories of three families affected by the absence of a father. In those homes, a solitary mother acquires the aura of a holy warrior. But these women seem to be trapped on pedestals they have no interest in and that resemble the painful Holy Mary figure that their sons tattoo on their bodies. D!
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“Our goal is for the film to speak the language of the peripheries it portrays. We wish for the characters to feel represented. We draw attention to issues that go beyond the limits of the community in question as they are observed not only in the outskirts of large urban centers of Brazil, but in communities at risk around the world. What's more, the single-mother, head-of-household, is a reality that grows in all social classes. The problem of man feeling less responsible for his children than the woman does is at the root of patriarchal dynamics. This film approaches a very specific universe - violent as well as solitary, based on the musicality of funk and rap, graffiti and slang, in the midst of the rise of evangelical churches - but from a universal theme. That’s what can make this film interesting for national and international audiences”, explains Tatiana Lohmann.