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Russa

Berlinale Shorts 2018
1974 in Porto, in the north of Portugal. In Bairro do Aleixo the government is proudly celebrating the grand opening of five new high-rises. With their lovely riverside location, the buildings are to become home for over 300 families that are due to be forcibly relocated from the city centre. Over the years, the quarter develops into a neighbourhood known for drug dealing, with high criminality and prostitution. In 2011, two of the five towers are torn down. The government hopes the situation will improve through the move, while at the same time there is growing interest in the property on the part of an unbridled real estate sector. Russa is one of those individuals whose apartments are still there, although already closed off. She has spent the past years in prison and is out now on a weekend furlough, spending the night at her sister’s place. Directors João Salaviza and Ricardo Alves Jr. accompany her on her return, at her meeting with her sister and friends. Again and again talk turns to the home that is no longer there and what is to come. As in his previous film, Altas Cidades de Osadas, Salaviza examines the effects of forced relocation on the human psyche.
Maike Mia Höhne
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by João Salaviza, Ricardo Alves Jr.
with Helene Campos, Maria Antonieta, Alberto Moreira Portugal / Brazil 2018 Portuguese 20' Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Helene Campos
  • Maria Antonieta
  • Alberto Moreira

Crew

Directors João Salaviza, Ricardo Alves Jr.
Screenplay João Salaviza, Ricardo Alves Jr., Renée Nader Messora, Germano Melo
Editing João Salaviza, Ricardo Alves Jr.
Sound Design Léo Bortolin
Producers João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora
Co-Producers Ricardo Alves Jr., Thiago Macêdo Correia, Renée Nader Messora
Co-Production Entre Films Belo Horizonte, Brasilien
Material Bruto São Paulo, Brasilien

World Sales

Agência – Portuguese Short Film Agency

http://agencia.curtas.pt/ http://agencia.curtas.pt/

Produced by

Karõ Filmes

http://www.karofilmes.pt http://www.karofilmes.pt

Photos

João Salaviza

© Miguel Manso

Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1984, he studied at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema in Lisbon and at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His short films Arena (Palme d’Or at Cannes), Cerro Negro (International Film Festival Rotterdam) and Rafa (Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlinale) screened at over 100 festivals around the world and won numerous prizes. His feature film debut Mountain premiered in the International Critics’ Week at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival. Another visit to Berlinale Shorts followed with High Cities of Bone in 2017.

Filmography

2009 Arena; short film 2011 Strokkur; short film 2012 Cerro Negro; short film · Rafa; Berlinale Shorts 2015 Montanha (Mountain) 2017 Altas Cidades de Ossadas (High Cities of Bone); Berlinale Shorts 2018 Russa

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018

Ricardo Alves Jr.

© Ricardo Alves Jr.

Ricardo Alves Jr., born in 1982 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is a filmmaker, producer and theater director who began by directing short films, which have been screened and have won prizes at numerous international festivals. He made his feature film debut in 2016 with Elon Não Acredita na Morte, which screened at festivals across Brazil, Latin America, China, and Europe and won several awards. He is producer of The Dead and the Others, which has been exhibited in over 30 festivals around the world.

Filmography

2006 Material Bruto (Raw Material) · Material Bruto (Raw Material); short film 2007 Convite Para Jantar com o Camarada Stalin (Invitation to Dine with Comrade Stalin); 10 min. · Convite Para Jantar com o Camarada Stalin (Invitation to Dine with Comrade Stalin); short film 2010 Permanências (Permanences); 34 min. · Permanências (Permanences); short film 2013 Tremor; short film · Tremor; 14 min. 2016 Elon Não Acredita na Morte (Elon doesn't believe in Death) · Elon Não Acredita na Morte (Elon doesn't believe in Death); 75 min. 2018 Russa · Russa; with João Salaviza, 20 min., Berlinale Shorts 2019 Vaga Carne (Dazed Flesh); with Grace Passô, 45 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020