Brazilian cinema has no shortage of films exploring the universe of favelas, yet Baronesa sets itself apart on a number of fronts. Rather than focusing on the men who carry out the violence intrinsic to these areas which serve as a reflection of the country’s social inequalities, the film instead depicts women and the issues they experience, focusing on their resilience. While men carry out their roles in drug-trafficking wars, women remain pillars of the community who freely imagine the possibility of a new life. Far from spectacle, the unfiltered nature of daily life in a favela is presented without comment. Through direction that borrows from the language of fiction and frank exchanges free of pretentious explanations of the sociological context, Baronesa highlights the banality of risk that structures this community’s daily life.

Ana Alice de Morais
Programmer, RIDM