O estranho

Synopsis

Guarulhos International Airport on indigenous land. Hundreds of thousands of passengers cross it daily, and 35,000 people work there—it's a city within a city. The film follows a group of workers including Alê, a runway whose family history overlapped with the airport’s construction. We follow them through encounters across time. There is a common thread running through their own and their friends’ memories and futures: traces of a past lost in a constantly changing territory.

In their second feature film, Dias and Mallon create a broad evocation of Brazilian memory, using the tools of experimental cinema in a character-driven film. These characters explore themes such as indigenous genocide, environmental destruction, disdain for religions and exploitation of labour.

Biography and Films

Flora Dias (Jales, Brazil, 1985) graduated in social communication from the Universidade Federal Fluminense in 2010, before specialising in images at the École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière in France. As a cinematographer, she has shot numerous projects; her directing credits include the short films Ocidente (2016), Miragem (2019) and Pytang (2020) and, together with Jurana Mallon, the features O Sol nos Meus Olhos (2013) and O Estranho.

Juruna Mallon (Rio de Janeiro, 1979) studied art history in Gothenburg, Sweden, and did a degree in film in Rio de Janeiro. He lived for several years in France, where he did a master's degree in film studies at the Université de Lille and a master's degree in visual anthropology at the Université Paris Nanterre. He is also a composer. In addition to codirecting two features with Flora Dias, he also made the musical documentary shorts Satan Satie (2015) and The Resonant Islands (2017).