The Dryden will screen Vazante (Daniela Thomas, Brazil/Portugal 2017, 116 min., DCP, Brazilian w/subtitles) as part of the Primal Screen series.

Brazil, 1821. A young girl, Beatriz, is forced to marry Antonio, a slave trader whose first wife died in labor. A restless soul, Antonio returns to his trading expeditions and leaves his spouse behind, alone with the slaves. The tragic events unfolding in the remote plantation where he conducts his cruel business are told in a lyrical, elliptical style, enhanced by gorgeous widescreen cinematography and by a ravishingly immersive sound design. Daniela Thomas's first feature film brings a feminist moral tale in the same territory of Fitzcarraldo through a subversive political twist: instead of being romanticized as in Werner Herzog's film, the harsh reality of life in the Amazon forest is faithfully depicted in every historical detail, from costumes to set design, with the solemn elegance of a Greek tragedy. A revelation at the Berlin Film Festival, this is both a spellbinding drama and a powerful indictment of human oppression.

[source: George Eastman Museum, 2018-Mar-12]