The Past

Rimini is a young translator who breaks off a marriage of 12 years to Sofia, his first girlfriend. The politeness with which both manage separation comes to an end when he begins to date Vera, a

22-year-old model who sees Sofia kissing him by force, and is run over and killed. One year later, having recovered from the tragedy, Rimini marries Carmen, his partner in translation. A mysterious form of amnesia as a result of Vera’s death erases all the knowledge he possesses of the languages he translates from. Helped by Carmen, Rimini tries to adapt to the inconvenient role of dependent husband. Birth of a son, Lúcio, helps him to find renewed enthusiasm. But the marriage comes to an end when Sofia, in a moment of madness, kidnaps the couple’s baby for some hours after attracting Rimini to a hotel for encounters. He loses permission to be close to his son and his ex-wife. From brilliant translator and seductive man, Rimini becomes a shadow of what he once was. The name of the central character relates to the film Amarcord, by Federico Fellini and accentuates the intimate and memorialistic nature of the film.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1946, he became a Brazilian citizen in 1970. He directed the films: King of the Night (1976), Lúcio Flávio (1977), winner of the Audience Prize at the 1st Mostra and re-exhibited at the 40th Mostra, Pixote (1981, 18th Mostra and 42nd Mostra), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985, 9th Mostra), for which he was nominated for the Oscar for best director, Ironweed (1987), nominated for the Oscar for best actor and best actress, At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), Foolish Heart (1996), Carandiru (2003), The Past (2007, title that opened the 31st Mostra), The Man who Stole a Duck, an episode of the feature Words with Gods (2014, 38th Mostra), and My Hindu Friend (2015, chosen as the opening film of the 39th Mostra). He won the Leon Cakoff Prize at the 37th Mostra, in recognition of his career. Babenco died at the age of 70 in 2016.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA