OS 12 TRABALHOS / THE 12 LABOURS - NY Premiere

Brazil. 2006. 35mm. Fiction. 90 min.

RICARDO ELIAS
Recently released from the remand home, Heracles, is a poor Black young man from São Paulo, who attempts to turn a new leaf as a motorcycle courier. On his first day at work, still on trial, he is given twelve tasks to do, bringing him into contact with a motley crew of big city inhabitants: civil servants, cops, lawyers, teachers, drug dealers, etc. The tension between Heracles' apparent fragility in the face of the problems set before him and his endeavor to find a new life far from the world of crime draws a realistic portrait of one of the biggest social issues in today's Brazil: that of youngsters with no perspective.

Heracles es un muchacho negro de un empobrecido barrio de São Paulo, que acaba de salir de un hogar de detención juvenil y trata de empezar una vida nueva como mensajero en motocicleta. En su primer día de trabajo, cuando todavía está a prueba, le dan doce trabajos a completar, lo cual lo pone en contacto con peculiares habitantes de la gran ciudad: sirvientes, policías, abogados, maestros, traficantes de drogas, etc. La tensión entre la aparente fragilidad de Heracles frente a los problemas que se le presentan y su determinación de encontrar una nueva vida lejos del mundo del crimen, hacen del filme un retrato realista de uno de los mayores problemas sociales en el Brasil de hoy: los adolescentes sin perspectivas.

BEST FILM, HORIZONTES AWARD: SAN SEBASTIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL; BEST ACTOR & BEST FILM: RIO DE JANEIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL; BEST FILM, THIRD CORAL AWARD: HAVANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

QUAD CINEMA 4/19 @ 7:00pm Diretor Present. 9:15pm Director Present

RICARDO ELIAS

RICARDO ELIAS was born in São Paulo in 1968. He graduated with a degree in filmmaking from the University of São Paulo’s School of Communication and Arts, and began his career with the award-winning shorts Derrube Jack and Lumpet. In 1999, he shot the documentary Um Filme de Marcos Medeiros, for which he also won an award. Ricardo made several contributions to television and debuted in feature films with Passing By, released commercially in 2004. The film received several prizes at the International Festival in Gramado (Brazil), including Best Film and Best Director, marking an auspicious beginning. The 12 Labours is his second feature film.

Nacido en Sao Paulo, se graduó en Dirección de cine en la Escuela de comunicaciones de la Universidad de Sao Paulo. Empezó su carrera con los galardonados cortos Derrube Jack y Lumpet. En 1999 filmó el documental Um Filme de Marcos Medeiros, que también fue galardonado. Ricardo ha trabajado en television y su debut como director de largometrajes lo hizo con Passing By, estrenado en el 2004 y con el cual recibió varios premios, entre ellos Mejor director y filme en el festival de Gramado de Brazil. The 12 Labours es su segundo filme.