Patio

In the exercise yard of a Brazilian jail, prisoners are praying, playing football, singing and practicing capoeira. A voice, which might initially belong to anyone within these walls, talks about crime, family and freedom. As the film progresses, one prisoner in particular comes into view. He receives a visit from his son, and at the end he is transformed into a free man. Most of the film is shot from a single vantage point, through a grate, affording a view over most of the small, walled exercise yard where about 30 men hang around. Instinctively, the viewer starts to seek out the man whose voice we hear. When it’s dark and the yard is empty, we hear the sound of a TV broadcasting news about an armed robbery, followed by a soccer report. This is a film about the passing of time, the importance of space, and the relationship between the group and the individual, and between captivity and freedom. And there’s the added bonus of a song about the origins of the capoeira martial art dance among African slaves. It is sung by a man with a chordophone, in the same exercise yard in São José dos Pinhais, Brazil.