'Little Secret' Will Represent Brazil at the Oscars

09/13/2016 - 10h35

The feature film that Brazil chose to represent it at the upcoming Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category is a production that Brazil itself hasn't yet seen.

"Pequeno Segredo" ("Little Secret") will be launched officially only on the 10th of November, but will be shown in prereleases at the end of this month in order to be eligible.

This strategy enabled it to unseat "Aquarius", by Kleber Mendonça Filho, the national film most talked about and the favorite to take the place.

Beto Rodrigues, a producer from Rio Grande do Sul and one of the nine members of the commission responsible for the selection process, said that they considered the film's artistic quality and the adaptation to the "Academy's thinking" in choosing "Little Secret".

"The uproar for 'Aquarius' is valid. But what I would like to have now is a union" said David Schurmann, director of "Little Secret".

New to feature-length fiction films, the 42-year-old director began his career as a television director in New Zealand and gained notoriety filming the voyages of his own Schurmann sailing family.

"Little Secret" is an autobiography: it narrates the history of the director's adopted sister, Kat, an HIV carrier who sailed with the Schurmanns until her death in 2006.

The production cost R$ 10 million (US$ 3.15 million) - compared to R$ 3 million (US$ 945 thousand) for "Aquarius" -, paid for in part by subsidies but for the most part by private financing, including funds for product placement, according to the director.

Schurmann said that he is counting on producer Barrie Osborne's (from "Lord of the Rings") support to lobby for the film in Hollywood and to secure a nomination. The Academy will publish the five that are chosen on January 24, 2017.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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