Filmed in 2021, still under the effects of the pandemic and complying with strict health protocols, the 10-episode series “Centro Liberdade” begins airing on TV Brasil on July 19th. Result of the “TVs Públicas” announcement, the series was written and directed by Bruno Carvalho, Cleverton Borges and Livia Ruas, with production by Prana Filmes. The locations included the Bom Jesus, Cruzeiro do Sul and Partenon neighborhoods, as well as other locations in Porto Alegre.

The cast includes well-known names in Brazilian audiovisual, such as Kaya Rodrigues (playing social worker Gabriela), Rafa Sieg (as bureaucrat Rodrigo). Luka Rocha, Thiago Souza, Álvaro RosaCosta, Cristal, Luciene Adami, Frederico Vitola, Marcelo Restori and Denizeli Cardoso are also in “Centro Liberdade”.

The story starts from an apparently prosaic situation – the change of address of a community center – and gradually acquires the contours of a dramatic synthesis of power relations in Brazilian urban peripheries, in which party politics, religion, police forces and trafficking face each other on a daily basis, sometimes with little regard for the legitimate interests of the population.

This tense situation does not prevent the characters from maintaining their dreams and their loves, but it is not easy to be idealistic or to be in love in a scenario full of violence and corruption. “Centro Liberdade” portrays powerful social conflicts without forgetting the human (and sometimes sentimental) side of men and women who fight to survive and continue dreaming when the rule is to submit to collective destiny and disappear whenever a higher power decides.