Arquivo / 49ª mostra

Film inspired in the life of João Francisco dos Santos (1900-1976). A good-for-nothing, artist, transformist, cook, prison inmate and adopted father to seven children, he spent most of his life in the streets of Rio as a bohemian. The story unfolds in Lapa, in 1932, when João Francisco’s dream —to be a star on the stage— becomes reality. The film portrays his and his circle of friends’ day-to-day life and focuses on a crucial moment in his life, immediately prior to the advent of Madam Satan, a name taken from a film by Cecil B. de Mille, of 1930, a character with which João has fallen in love.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize for best actor for Lázaro Ramos at the 26th Mostra.