Germino Pétalas no Asfalto
Blooming on the Asphalt
Coraci Ruiz, Julio Matos
This film will also be available online on our VoD platform from April 18 to April 30, 2023. Please note: This film will only be available in Germany.
Language VoD platform: Original with German subtitles
Coraci Ruiz depicts her child’s queer circle of friends before and after the right-wing, anti-queer Bolsonaro government took office in Brazil. One of the friends, Jack, becomes the film’s main character. The film starts in 2016, the year in which he first takes testosterone. Blooming on the Asphalt follows Jack for part of his gender transition, not focusing solely on the private, intimate setting but always framing it within the context of the political situation. The street thus also becomes the protagonist of the film. Ruiz brings images of graffiti into the film, which act like intertitles while also referring to the active queer movement. They function like traces in the public arena, even if the activists themselves are not visible. Jack’s group of friends work on organising venues, street demonstrations, finding ways of gathering people together – and in doing so, creating solidarity. Time progresses in the film and the Covid-19 pandemic breaks out. Coming together and working collectively now becomes much harder, everyone is now struggling with the circumstances of isolation. The situation also changes for Jack.
This film deals with the experience of violence.
Awards for »Blooming on the Asphalt«
Beste Regie – Festival Internacional de Filmes de Santos | Bester Dokumentarfilm – International Film Festival of La Paz | Auszeichnung Regie – Festival de Cinema de Vitória | Bester Soundtrack – 45ª Festival Guarnicê de Cinema
Coraci Ruiz
Coraci Ruiz first completed a degree in Dance, before gaining a Master’s in Audiovisual Culture and Media. She then acquired a PhD in Multimedia. In 2003, she co-founded the production company Laboratório Cisco. Her documentaries focus on issues of human rights, the environment as well as culture. Her film Threshold was part of the programme desired! at IFFF Dortmund+Köln two years ago. While in Threshold she also reflects on her own position and questions of desire and gender, in Blooming on the Asphalt she has chosen to focus more on the public domain and the political setting for the private events.
Films by Coraci Ruiz
Threshold 2020 | Strong Feather 2019 | Marginal Territories 2019 | Letters from Exile 2015 | Letters to Angola 2012 | Another City 2009 | Nostalgia, video letters to Cuba 2005
