Overview
Moura is the lifeguard Donato, who works at the Praia do Futuro. He starts to escape from his life after losing a German tourist during a rescue. When Donato begins to drift away, his younger brother, Ayrton (Jesuita Barbosa), starts trying to help him up.
Part gay romance, part inquisitive self-journey, FUTURO BEACH is a stunning examination of lives lost and found.
Donato (Wagner Moura) works as a lifeguard at the spectacular but treacherous Praia do Futuro beach in Brazil; Konrad (Clemens Schick) is an ex-military thrill-seeker from Germany vacationing with a friend. After Donato saves Konrad from drowning, but fails to save his other friend, initial sexual sparks give way to a deeper, emotional connection.
Donato decides to leave everything behind, including his ailing mother and younger brother, Ayrton, to travel back to Berlin with Konrad. There, he finds both confusion and liberation, and his journey for love soon turns into a deeper search for his own identity. Eight years later, an unexpected visit from Ayrton, brings all three men back together as they struggle to reconcile the pain of loss and longing, instinctively drawn to each other in search of hope and a brighter future.
Director’s Note
When we imagined the film, we thought of a story about courage and fear, about characters that are brave and cowardly at the same time. We wanted to talk about the times we live in – when trepidation is everywhere. We have immersed ourselves in a conservative moment, a moment where religion, intolerance and a wish for stability are ever present. Adventure, risk-taking, and danger are no longer very welcome. So we pictured a story that could encompass all of that, a story that could be relevant – we imagined a film about passion, voyage and discovery. We envisioned a film in which the characters would love unconditionally, a story of men, but men who make mistakes and who are vulnerable and lack bravery at times.
Having the guts to leave everything behind and reinvent your life was the idea at the core of Praia do Futuro. It’s something that we all desire but are often afraid of. Maybe because we have to leave so much behind in order to actually take the leap. The film is a portrait of characters that have the courage to take this step, to take the plunge to somewhere completely unknown. The sensation of doing this is embedded in the title of the film itself – futuro, future, moving forward.
I come from a generation where taking risks was mandatory – we wanted to change the world. These days I have the sense that this kind of collective utopian thinking is not so present anymore. Praia do Futuro is in a sense fueled by that wish to begin anew, to confront things, to engage in unexpected possibilities. The challenge was to develop the main characters as facets of the same idea, we had to achieve a tone that was truthful to these ideals – ultimately to express it all through the characters and their actions, the perils they undertake, the journeys they embark on, and the mistakes they end up making along the way. Besides all the travel and adventure, there was also the wish to draft a male melodrama. A contemporary, intimate melodrama inhabited only by male characters but without villains.
Karim Ainouz
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 2014 – Nominated Golden Berlin Bear Chicago International Film Festival 2014 – Audience Choice Award Oslo Films from the South Festival 2014 – Nominated Best Feature SESC Film Festival, Brazil 2015 – Audience Award Best Cinematography San Sebastián International Film Festival 2014 – Best Latin American Film São Paulo Association of Art Critics Awards 2015 – Best Film (Melhor Filme)
With the support of the Brazilian Embassy in Athens
