Stories Only Exist When Remembered

Histórias que só existem quando lembradas

Stories Only Exist When Remembered

Julia Murat

Magdalena: »I’m afraid of dying.«
Antonio: »Then just don’t die.«

Madalena lives in Jotoumba, a run-down and over-aged village in the Paraíbo valley in Brazil. She and residents live in momeory of the deceased and remembering the times when all around coffee was still grown. Now times seem to stand still in Jotoumba, even the cemetry has closed down. The residents confront their dreary situation with daily personal routines: Madalena bakes bread rolls every morning for Antonio, owner of the village café, goes to church and then eats lunch with the others. She walks to the village along the railway line, on which no train has run for many years. One day on this path she meets Rita, a young photographer, whom she takes into her home and who unsettles her with her perspecitve on life and on dying in Jotuomba.
The feature film début of documentary filmmaker Julia Murat is a modern parable about life and passing away, and an homage to the times when the vale do Paraíbo was still the prosperous source of pride for Brazilian coffee producers. The festival has screened Histórias que só existem quando lembradas as the German première.


Awards for ›Histórias que só existem quando lembradas‹
Bester Film, Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2011

Director

Julia Murat

Script

Julia Murat, Maria Clara Escobar, Felipe Sholl

Cinematography

Lucio Bonelli

Editing

Marina Meliande

Sound

Facundo Giron

Music

Lucas Marcier

Cast

Lisa Fávero, Sonia Guedes, Rikardo Mercin, Luiz Serra

Production

Taiga Filmes in Co-production with MPM Film, Julia Solomonoff, Cepa Audiovisual and Bonfilm

Contac

Movie Partners in Motion (MPM Films)

A photo of director Julia Murat.

Julia Murat

Júlia Murat was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1979. She graduated from the Rio de Janeiro University in graphic design and at the Darcy Ribeiro Film School as a screenwriter. She has made short-films, experimental videos, commercials and video-installations and has extensive experience as an editor, assistant director, and camera assistant. Dia Dos Pas (2008), her feature length documentary film, premiered at Cinéma du Reel. Historias que so existem quando Lembradas (2011) was her first feature-length fiction film, followed by Pendular (2017) which screened at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln in the International Debut Feature Film Competition. Her latest feature Rule 34 (2022) premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and won the Golden Leopard for best film.


Films byJúlia Murat
Pendular
2017 | Historias que so existem quando Lembradas 2011 | Dia dos Pais 2008 | Ausencia 2004 | Desvellar 2003