BABENCO - TELL ME WHEN I DIE

Special Screening

“I have already lived my death and now all that is left is to make a film about it”, said the filmmaker Hector Babenco to Bárbara Paz when he realized he did not have much time left. She accepted the challenge to fulfill the last wish of her late partner: to be the main protagonist in his own death. In this immersion into the life of one of the greatest filmmakers from South America, Babenco himself consciously bares his soul in intimate and painful situations. He expresses fears and anxieties, and also memories, reflections, and fantasies, in this face-off between his intellectual vigor and physical frailty, which were the hallmarks of his career. From the onset of cancer at the age of 38 until his death at 70, Babenco made of the cinema his medicine and the nourishment that kept him alive.

Winner of the best documentary on cinema award at Venice International Film Festival.

Born in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 1974. Graduated from the Escola de Teatro Macunaima and from Centro de Pesquisa Teatral (CPT), coordinated by the director Antunes Filho. Theater, cinema and television actress, she participated in plays such as Hell and Vênus em Visom, both directed by Hector Babenco. She also worked in the short Produto Descartável (2003), for which she was awarded best actress at Gramado Festival, and in the features Se Puder… Dirija (2013), Never Old to Meow (2014) and My Hindu Friend (2015, 39th Mostra). Bárbara directed the shorts Making of My Hindu Friend (2015, 39th Mostra) and Talk to Him (2018, 42nd Mostra). Her first feature film as a director, Babenco - Tell Me When I Die (2019, 43rd Mostra), won the award for best documentary at Venice International Film Festival.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA