Lucas Estevan Soares (born 24 July

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

) is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and musician. He is active in the area of independent cinema, both in Brazil and abroad, and is known for the films '' Independent Roads'' (2012) and '' Neon Heart'' (2023).

Early life

Lucas Estevan Soares was born in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

in 1990, and spent his childhood and adolescence in Boqueirão, one of the largest

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

of the capital of Paraná. In 2007 he began his acting career, joined the theater company Teatratividade and acted in several theater shows in Brazil.

Career

Soares moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

in 2009 and entered the Filmmaking Program at Estácio de Sá University. The following year he directed and scripted his first films: ''Kabbalah'', an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

mid-length, and the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s ''Absence of Us'' and ''Terminal 2'' (subsequently renamed to ''The Airport Date''). With them he participated in local festivals and international festivals such as the Arouca Film Festival 2012 in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and Très Court International Film Festival 2013 in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Independent Roads

In 2011, Soares

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the United States. In Los Angeles he filmed ''Passports and Dreams'', with actors of 10

nationalities Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...

and spoken in 5 languages, in which the director and screenwriter also participated as an actor. He received a job offer to work in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, he accepted and moved to Asia. In Southeast Asia he directed ''Ends Meat'' (in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

), ''Bojou'' (

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, Japan) and the documentary ''From a New Fernando to Brazil'' (

Phi Phi Islands The Phi Phi Islands ( th, หมู่เกาะพีพี, , ) are an island group in Thailand between the large island of Phuket and the Straits of Malacca coast of Thailand. The islands are administratively part of Krabi Province. Ko Phi ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

). In Oceania (

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

), he filmed ''Allegories of Us'', in which he is the main lead actor. In Europe, Soares was cast in the film ''Special Delivery'', shot in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, by the director Andrea Traina. For his performance he won the award for "Best Short Film Actor" at the Premio Nazionale Musa D'Argento, held in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in 2016. Lucas Estevan Soares gathered the works ''Absence of Us'', ''The Airport Date'', ''Passports and Dreams'', ''Ends Meat'', ''Bojou'', ''From a New Fernando to Brazil'' and ''Allegories of Us'' and released a new product, entitled ''Independent Roads''. Between 2012 and 2013 he traveled to countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America showing his films and sharing his ideas and experiences regarding independent cinema in various exhibitions and festivals such as the 56th Café Com Filmes (CCFilmes 2012), in

, the 10th Oberá en Cortos Film Festival, in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and the 12th Mostra do Filme Livre (MFL 2013), in Brazil.

International House of Cinema

In October 2012, Soares founded in

the film production company International House of Cinema (IHC). He began producing commercial videos and collaborating with local musicians. He married Rhaissa Gonçalves in 2014, who became his partner in IHC and also shares with Soares the function of film producer. Two years later IHC launched the short film ''Special Delivery'', which earned Soares the award for "Best Short Film Actor" at the Premio Nazionale Musa D'Argento 2016, and the documentary ''Café em Leves Devaneios''. In 2017 they installed in Miami the second HQ of IHC and released two short films directed by Soares in 2011: ''Twisted Lines'', filmed in New York City, and ''Portraits in the Water'', shot in Singapore. In 2021 IHC created a

film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...

company to mainly market its own productions.

Neon Heart

The repercussion of the music video "# Boquera", released in 2018, motivated the beginning of work on an idea that emerged in 2014, the production of a feature film with a singing telegram service car in the center of the plot and the Boqueirão neighborhood as a background. The film, funded with resources from IHC (without support from public and tax incentive programs) in ''

guerrilla filmmaking Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. Often scenes are shot quickly in real loc ...

'' style, was recorded in late 2019, with post-production taking place the following year, already during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2022, Soares' first feature, who in addition to directing, scripting and acting also composed and participated in the production of the film and the soundtrack, toured the national and international circuit of film festivals, being well received by general

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

(including being called in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

"great example of the new Brazilian popular cinema") and awarded in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and Brazil. ''Neon Heart'' made its debut on the Brazilian commercial circuit on March 9, 2023.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Lucas Estevan 1990 births Living people People from Curitiba Brazilian film directors Brazilian screenwriters Brazilian male screenwriters Brazilian film producers Brazilian film actors Brazilian male singer-songwriters