Official Competition 2019

Seven Years in May

Affonso Uchoa I 2018 I 41'

SYNOPSIS

One night seven years ago, Rafael came home after work and discovered that people he did not know had come looking for him. He immediately fled, without looking back. From that moment on, his life changed, as if that night had never ended.

BIOGRAPHY

Affonso Uchoa

AFFONSO UCHOA (Brazil, 1984). He directed Afternoon Woman (2010), screened at the Mostra de Tiradentes, Directors' Week and CineEsquemaNovo. In 2014 he made A Vizinhança do Tigre, followed by Arábia (co-directed with João Dumans, 2017). Both were screened at Pasajes FILMADRID, with the presence of Uchoa.

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Critical text

Throughout the year there are few films that can represent in a deep and close way the hopelessness of our human condition. Recorded with few elements, between bonfires and dark streets, Affonso Uchoa’s new film (A Vizinhança do Tigre; Arábia) introduces us to Rafael, a young man who was persecuted by the police seven years ago and whose life has changed since then. His story is that of a broken country ruined by state violence, abandoned to rage and disappointment. Every word that comes out of his mouth is an unparalleled political chant. “Is your story different?”, he asks his interlocutor at the end of his speech. “It’s the same, all the stories are alike,” is the answer. With moments approaching the best Pedro Costa, Seven Years in May is not a film about what is happening today in Brazil (which also is): it is mainly a film about what has been happening for years, for centuries, all over the world. FERNANDO VÍLCHEZ

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