Portuguese and German with English subtitles

14A - Substance Abuse, Mature Subject Matter

After being in competition two years in a row with his now award-winning short films, young Brazilian director Esmir Filho has made a resonant feature debut about adolescence, loneliness and the desire to escape reality. To adapt Ismael Caneppele’s book, Filho not only enlisted the author to co-write the screenplay, he invited Caneppele to play the lead, Julien.

With an incredible soundtrack throughout, the film weaves four characters’ lives together in a poetic, dream-like drama. Taking place in a small town of German ex-pats in rural Brazil, THE FAMOUS AND THE DEAD follows Mr. Tambourine Man (Henrique Larre), a 16-year-old Bob Dylan fan who spends hours on the Internet surfing for photographs and movies of a mysterious young woman who he may be in love with. As the story progresses, it reveals more about the mysterious woman and her relationship with the town, Julien and Dylan himself.

BL