''Serra Pelada'' is a 2013 Brazilian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

co-written and directed by

Heitor Dhalia Heitor Dhalia (born 18 January 1970) is a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. He has directed seven films since 1988. His film, '' À Deriva'', competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Filmography * '' ...

, starring Juliano Cazarré, Júlio Andrade, Sophie Charlotte,

Wagner Moura Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...

, and

Matheus Nachtergaele Matheus Nachtergaele (born 3 January 1968) is a Brazilian actor, director, and screenwriter. Career He has starred in numerous Brazilian films, best known for his appearances in the 1997 film ''Four Days in September'' and the 2002 film '' City ...

. The film follows the story of two men in

Serra Pelada Serra Pelada (English: "Naked Mountain") is a Brazilian village, district of the municipality of Curionópolis, in the southeast of Pará. Serra Pelada was a large gold mine in Brazil south of the mouth of the Amazon River. The mine was made in ...

, one of the largest mines in the world.

Plot

The friends Juliano (Juliano Cazarré) and Joaquim (Júlio Andrade) leave

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

in search of the dream of gold. The year is 1978. The two arrive at the

Amazon jungle The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

as so many other thousands of men arrived. Full of dreams and illusions. But life in the camp changes everything. The obsession with wealth and power destroys them. Juliano becomes a gangster. Joaquim leaves all his values behind.

Cast

Juliano Cazarré Juliano Cazarré (born 24 September 1980) is a Brazilian actor and writer. He appeared in more than thirty films since 2002. Biography Cazarré is son of the juvenile writer and journalist Lourenço Cazarré, winner of the 1998 Jabuti Award. Hi ...

as Juliano * Júlio Andrade as Joaquim * Sophie Charlotte as Thereza *

as Lindo Rico *

as Carvalho *Eline Porto as Izabel *Lyu Arisson as Marcelo *Edmilson Cordeiro as Josias *

Silvero Pereira Silvero Pereira (born 20 June 1982) is a Brazilian actor and director. He has a degree in performing arts from the Federal Institute of Ceará. Career Silvero started his artistic career at the age of 17 doing theatre. He has been married fo ...

as Severino *Démick Lopes as Maria Y *

Jesuíta Barbosa José Jesuíta Barbosa Neto (born 26 June 1991) is a Brazilian actor. He is considered an important talent of recent Brazilian cinema and has performed in critically acclaimed feature films. Biography Jesuíta was born in Salgueiro and spent ...

as Navalhada *Adriano Barroso as Lindomar *Rose Tuñas as Bereka *Alysson Amaral as Caboclo *Oswaldo Eugênio as Nego Diamante *Leonel Ferreira as Felicio

Production

Development

The director Heitor Dhalia said to UOL that ''Serra Pelada'' was the hardest movie he ever made. "When I had the idea of the film, I thought: ' why had nobody thought of doing this movie before? ' And when I was filming I understood why. It was almost impossible to be done. It was very complex. It was the hardest film I've ever done". According to Dhalia, it was hard to tell the story of a camp which focused on men living in precarious conditions and facing orders from the owners of the operating areas. "We're talking about a fairly important Brazilian event of our recent history. The biggest gold rush of the modern era. Highest concentration of manual labor since the pyramids of Egypt, which had 4,000 men. In

there were around 100,000 men working".Filme Serra Pelada é destaque no encerramento do Festival do Rio - Portal Vermelho
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Filming

The film was going to be shot in

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...

, but ended up being filmed in

Paulínia Paulínia is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the São Paulo Macrometropolis. The population is 112,003 (2020 est.) in an area of 138.78 km². The elevation is 590 m. It is known for hosting the Replan, ...

, after Vale and the Amazonian State Government denied support for the production. The producer Tatiana Quintella confirmed that Vale vetoed the filming in Pará, but explained that running the production there would be unworkable. "We had no budget for the logistics and security of our team. So we decided to shoot the film in São Paulo".

References

External links

* {{Heitor Dhalia 2013 films Brazilian drama films Gold mining in Brazil Films shot in Paulínia Films directed by Heitor Dhalia Films set in the 1970s Films about mining 2013 drama films 2010s Portuguese-language films