A VIDA AO LADO

LIFE NEXT DOOR
Fiction | 35mm | 2006 | 13 minutes
In co-production with Dharma Filmes
Sponsored by: Petrobras

SYNOPSIS: Cecília is in love with her neighbor Ana. On the other hand, Ana is trying to seduce Alberto. She ignores that he is about to commit suicide. In a day full of surprises, the three neighbors share the same experience: love.

Watch the film: Vimeo

- Shown in 25 film festivals in Brazil and abroad, including Brasília (06), Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal, 06), Cambridge (England, 07), Odense (Denmark, 07), São Paulo (07) and Drama (Greece, 07)
- Best Actor award at the Brazilian Film Festival of Brasília, to Leonardo Medeiros
- Purchased by TV Cultura, Canal Brasil, Curta Petrobras às Seis and Programadora Brasil

Directed and written by: Gustavo Galvão
Produced by: Ana Cristina Costa e Silva, Gustavo Galvão
Director of photography: André Carvalheira
Art director: Rogério Tavares
Editor: Marcius Barbieri
Sound editors: Miriam Biderman, Ricardo Reis
Soundtrack: Jimi Figueiredo
Cast: Leonardo Medeiros, Larissa Salgado, Nívia Helen



DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

This short film tells the story of a day in the life of three neighbors. Cecília is unable to fulfill her desires. Alberto is so self-absorbed in his own personal crisis that he is considering suicide. Ana is a step ahead of the other two: very aware of the emotional emptiness in her life, she yearns for fulfillment. All she needs is the right company.

Sex and loneliness; alienation and discovery. That’s what Life Next Door is all about. And about Brasília, a city which is apparently cold, but also full of alternatives and beauty. Sometimes, all that is necessary to discover this is to look next door.

More than a city, Brasília is an utopia. Lucio Costa’s original design intended to bring together architecture, nature and human beings in the same urban area. If it can be accused of isolating families, its abundance of open spaces can also be considered an intense stimulus to community life.

Life Next Door was born from the idea of reconciling people to this project. To do so, it obliges each character to leave his (or her) own private universe, be it an apartment or a car. The film shows the moment when one person notices the other’s presence. In this way, a man and two women begin to share love.