Film with North American production is recorded in Florianópolis

The capital of Santa Catarina is the setting for the short film “Macumba: Folklore de Família” between the 16th and 20th of January 2023

A real story told in an unpretentious way during a family gathering was the guiding thread for the script of the short film “Macumba: Folclore de Família”, which, starting next week, will start shooting in Florianópolis, with local actors. Written by Aline Andrade from Santa Catarina, the story is a supernatural drama of magical realism that takes place in Brazil in the 60s, centered on a typical Catholic family in the south of Santa Catarina. According to the writer-director, who has lived and worked in Los Angeles and Hollywood for 20 years, as she has been writing the story, she has been able to connect more with her own family. Thus, the expectation is that the Brazilian public will follow the same path of connection.

Aline says that the film was first written in English, with a few sentences in Portuguese, as her initial idea was to shoot in Los Angeles, but when she started showing the script to some acquaintances in Brazil, she realized that it made more sense to translate the script and film even in Brazil. From there to choosing the cast and location was a very organic path. “When I started to find the team that made me feel that the film was going to be in good hands, I realized that everyone lived in Florianópolis”.

The original story takes place in Tubarão, two hours from the capital of Santa Catarina. Thus, the scenario of Ilha da Magia with the theme of the film, which also has something magical, made perfect sense. The director sees an immense visual potential in the story, with elements of the relationship between parents and children, child psychology, the religion of Candomblé through the predominant Catholic point of view and all the mystery involved.

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Casting director Luciana Prado did the casting for the film and Raquel Stüpp, Chico Caprario, Joana dos Santos and Zoê França Danielewicz (in her first film) were selected as Elisabeth, the main character. In the film, when her mother decides to prepare a fake macumba, 12-year-old Elisabeth begins to have visions of Iansã, the Orixá of winds, thunder and female strength. Iansã gives Elisabeth a mission: she needs to face her father and ask him not to hit her anymore. When the girl works up the courage to talk to him, the family dynamic changes and the generational trauma is broken.

To create all the necessary complicity between the actors, Aline lets the scene flow with dialogue and events that come from the imagination of each actor. Then, when editing, she takes into account the rhythm of the scene and, thus, creates the cadence of the film. As the director explains, reading and talking to the actors in the days before filming is essential, so she knows that the whole crew is well prepared to film “Macumba…”.

After the entire process is completed, the film, which is produced independently, will be sent to several national and international film festivals. The objective is to show it to as many people as possible and, thus, prospect partnerships with other producers and investors who are interested in shooting the feature film, which has a better chance of being distributed by cinemas or international platforms.

Aline, by the way, has a lot of experience in international platforms. Her name appears as a producer of films, series and documentaries on Netflix (where she also appears as an actress), Hulu, Facebook Watch, PBS, HBO, National Geographic, FIFA + and Apple Music. Hallmark Channel and Discovery Channel are also in her acting portfolio.