Gabriel Mascaro’s Dystopian Brazilian Film ‘The Blue Trail’ Joins Inaugural Sales Roster of Lucky Number Ahead of Berlinale Competition (EXCLUSIVE)
“The Blue Trail,” Gabriel Mascaro’s dystopian Brazilian movie which is slated to compete at the Berlin Film Festival, has landed on the inaugural slate of newly-launched Paris-based sales banner Lucky Number.
The selection marks Brazil’s return to the Berlinale Competition following “All the Dead Ones” by Caetano Godardo in 2020. Mascaro previously attended the Berlin Film Festival with “Divine Love” which opened at Sundance and went on to play in the Panorama section in Berlin in 2019. Lucky Number has unveiled a first still of the film and will kick off sales at the EFM in Berlin next month.
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The politically minded film unfolds on the banks of the Amazon, and is set in a near future, in a society in which the elderly are invited to exile themselves once their expiration date has passed. The story revolves around Tereza, 77, who has lived her whole life in a small, industrialized town in the Amazon, until one day she receives an official government order to relocate to a senior housing colony. “The colony is in an isolated area where the elderly are brought to ‘enjoy’ their final years, freeing the younger generation to focus fully on productivity and growth. Tereza refuses to accept this imposed fate. Instead, she embarks on a transformative journey through the rivers and tributaries of the Amazon to fulfill one last wish before her freedom is taken away—a decision that will change her destiny forever,” the synopsis reads.
“The Blue Trail” stars Denise Weinberg (“Salve Geral”) and Rodrigo Santoro, who is internationally known for his role in “Love Actually,” Miriam Socarrás and Adanilo Costa.
Olivier Barbier, a former senior executive at MK2 Films who recently co-founded Lucky Number with fellow MK2 Films alumn Ola Byszuk and former Orange Studio exec Lenny Porte, said “The Blue Trail” “captivated us with its reflection on a world where ultra-productivism dares to impose expiry dates on people.”
“In his signature stunning visual style, Gabriel Mascaro creates a magnificent and fantastical journey of liberation – a poignant symbol of our shrinking freedoms in modern society and the boundless possibilities that remain. It is an honor to share his profound and visionary message with the world,” Barbier continued.
Mascaro, who’s best known for his film “Neon Bull” which played at Venice in 2015, said “it’s wonderful to see so many Brazilian films in this year’s Berlinale and I am truly honored to be back at the Festival, competing for the Golden Bear.”
“This film has been many years in the making, and this feels like a very crucial time to show a film where the Amazon isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a character, full of contradictions, simultaneously magical and industrial, fantastical yet deeply political,” Mascaro continued.
“The Blue Trail” is produced by Rachel Daisy Ellis for Brazil’s Desvia, a company whose previous credits include “Neon Bull” and Tatiana Huezo’s “Prayers for the Stolen;” and Sandino Saravia Vinay (“Roma”) at Mexico’s Cinevinay. Co-producers are Globo Filmes in Brazil, Viking Film in The Netherlands and Quijote Films in Chile.
Ellis said, “In the last couple of years there has been a resurgence of incredible films from Brazil conquering audiences around the world.”
“It’s beautiful to see so many Brazilian films in this year’s Berlinale and we are so happy and honoured to be going to Berlin in competition, with a film that talks about resistance, resilience and hope,” Ellise continued, also describing the film as a “beautiful coming-of-age later in life, quasi-dystopic adventure! ”
“The Blue Trail” will be distributed in Brazilian theaters by Vitrine Filmes later this year.
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