An incisive insight into the bowels of contemporary Brazil – not the criminal texture of favelas but the wellbeing of the middle classes, under the guise of normality revealing a culture of fear, paranoia and vindictiveness.
Life runs its apparently normal course in an affluent middle-class district in Recife. Things take an unexpected turn when a private security outfit offers its services to the residents. The presence of guards gives them a feeling of security, but also adds a large dose of anxiety in a society that flourishes on fear and smouldering resentment. Meanwhile Bia, the mother of two children, tries to find a way to deal with the barking of the guard dogs that gives her sleepless nights.
»I’m interested in a cinema of fiction that’s documentary as well. You see Taxi Driver (1976) today, and it’s fascinating because it’s fiction, but it’s also New York in 1975. You can see how New York was—roads, traffic lights, places that don’t exist anymore. It interests me to film scenes that not only function dramatically, but also show the surroundings. So I had to film in a way that was generously open. Only at certain moments I then closed the space, to say, »Look at this face, this face is important right now.« (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Born in 1968 in Recife, Brazil. He studied journalism and has worked as a film critic for CinemaScópio, and a film programmer in Recife’s top alternative cinema. His shorts and documentary films focus on the themes of love and fear. Neighbouring Sounds is his first feature film.