Joaçaba fiction film wins Santa Catarina film award and begins pre-production
Scheduled to be shot in September, the film – “A César o que é de César” – is a co-production of VMS Produções and Pupilo TV.
Approved by the 2022 Santa Catarina Film Award (Prêmio Catarinense de Cinema), the short film “A César o que é de César” (Render Unto Caesar) brings to the cinema screen a portrait of the peasant culture of the Midwest region of Santa Catarina. Immersed in the tradition of family farming, César and Maria live the dilemmas of remaining in the rural world amid the social, political, economic and technological transformations that mark our days.
The story of a farmer who, to the surprise of (almost) everyone, turns out to be a crossdresser: he feels good wearing women’s clothes!, or, rather, clothes conventionally considered feminine. This secret brought to the public turns César’s life into hell, and he is willing to face the prejudice of his coworkers, his brother and the community, dealing with the turbulence generated in his marriage.
In the oral tradition of the Portuguese language, “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” has become a proverb, a popular saying that means something like “give the other what he deserves”, a phrase with a double meaning that, since its origin, is subject to interpretation. Respect the laws of men or sacred justice? Behave like a man, according to the laws of patriarchal tradition, or transgress in search of the intimate satisfaction of living life as one wishes, at peace with oneself, experiencing happiness?
Fulfilling duties and obligations, working the land: as a farmer born and raised in the countryside, César does everything by the book (or almost everything) to be who he wants to be, having the freedom to feel elegant in a long, well-made skirt! Staying in contact with the land and the peasant tradition and not running away, showing that simplicity is still, in the end, what one seeks, because it seems the balls are still masked balls and being what one is remains the simplest thing.
Keeping in touch with the land and the life of farmers, Maria and Cesar seek a balance between their most intimate desires and what the community demands of a “family man”. Will it be possible to recover the solidarity and collectivity that mark life in the countryside? Will a sense of belonging be possible amid the dilemmas that have always existed between tradition and transgression, shame and the false image before everyone?
A film that inserts the culture and traditional way of life of Santa Catarina’s Midwest into the (not so new) plots of so-called “modern life”, dealing sensitively, far from the big urban centers, with discussions related to gender and identities, confirming the importance of having audiovisual projects filmed around here. Follow the first fiction short film approved by the Santa Catarina Film Award for the region!
