EXCLUSIVE: Italy’s Open Reel has boarded international sales for Brazilian director Grace Passô’s Our Secret (Nosso Segredo), which is set to world premiere in the Berlinale’s Perspectives section next month.
Our Secret is written and directed by Passô and marks her feature debut after a long career in theatre. As a film actress, she was awarded best actress at Italy’s Torino International Film Festival for her role in the 2018 film Temporada (Long Way Home), and has won awards at the Brasília and Rio de Janeiro film festivals.
Our Secret centres on a Black Brazilian family in the city of Belo Horizonte trying to rebuild their home after a recent loss. Caught between memories and nightmares, and unable to express what they feel to each other, a mother and her children shield themselves from the pain of grief through their individual routines.
Only the youngest child understands the secret that the house holds within its four walls and tries to reveal it to the others, only to fall on deaf ears. Finally, confronted with the truth, they face the deep roots of their grief and come together to traverse this moment with love and courage.
The cast includes Robert Frank, Efraim Santos, Jéssica Gaspar, Flip, Ju Colombo, Marisa Revert, Gláucia Vandeveld, Juan Queiroz, Mateus Aleluia, Nanego Lira and Tássia Reis.
Our Secret is produced by Ricardo Alves Jr of Brazil’s Entre Films. It is co-produced by Rachel Daisy Ellis, Julia Alves and Catarina de Sousa, and executive produced by Julia Alves. The cinematography is by Wilssa Esser.
“Since I created this story, many years ago, it has become an inexhaustible source of reflection about many things,” said Passô. “It helps me understand what lies behind all that is left unsaid in personal, intimate relationships; within families, within different dimensions of grief and absence, in relation to what may be understood but is unnamable, and many other things. It is a story that is, in fact, a source, just as families are.”
She has also previously directed the short film Republic and the medium-length film Dazed Flesh, co-directed with Ricardo Alves Jr., which was part of Berlinale 2019 – Forum Expanded.
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