GZH – Ticiano Osório – 27/11/23

Book by Mário Corso will be turned into a film by Hique Montanari
Adaptation of “The Saddest Story in the World” will begin production in 2024

The book that won the 2015 Açorianos Prize for Children’s Literature, The Saddest Story in the World, by Mário Corso, will be turned into a feature film with a script and direction by Hique Montanari. He is the same director of the award-winning Yonlu (2017), based on the story of a teenager from Porto Alegre who was a multi-artist (photographer, designer and mainly musician) and who committed suicide in 2006, with the help of other people via virtual chat.

Marco, the main character of the literary work, is sold by his parents to a circus while still a child. The boy shares a cage with a lion, works on the collective’s daily tasks and takes part in shows. Faced with friendships with very different people and a context of abandonment, the little protagonist matures.

Filming is scheduled for the first half of 2024, and the premiere should be in 2025. The producers are Container Filmes LTDA and Prana Filmes. By email, Montanari gave an interview to the following via email to Coluna about his new film, scheduled for release in 2025:

The book is aimed at children and young people. Will the film be too? This is an age group that is rarely considered in Rio Grande do Sul’s film production, right?

Yes, the film’s audience remains the same as the book’s, children and young people. The producers believe that, even with this audience cut, the film will dialogue with other audiences and of the most diverse age groups and profiles. The imagery that surrounds the circus is something that populates the memories of experiences or, at least, references of all of us. Furthermore, and already coming from the book, the script narrates a trajectory of discoveries and maturation of a boy excluded from the affection and care of his family, the protagonist Marco, and who will live in the circus in which his parents give him the first experiences of feelings. and concepts of solidarity, empathy, sincere friendships, respect for diversity, overcoming fears and a resounding “NO” to all forms of violence, no to prejudice and no to exclusion. Therefore, there is no way that these approaches fail to reach everyone as they reflect our lives, the daily lives of each of us, our culture, education and tangible and real society. I believe that films for children and young people should appear in greater numbers. It is an audience as large and diverse as any other, including specific and exclusive viewing windows. If Rio Grande do Sul productions have little regard for this audience, it is a question of projects aimed at this. But we have and will have many more children’s films made in RS.

Do you see connections between Marco, a character in Mário Corso’s book, and Yonlu, the protagonist of your previous film?
No. Absolutely none.

Will the approach to the story be more realistic or symbolic? How will the lion that sleeps next to the protagonist be represented?
The film will bring the playful and fantasy universe of the circus, this same universe that is what we have in the imaginary visuals of these attractions. Although based on realism, we will work on symbolism since, for reasons of aesthetics and language, but also production, we will set the circus in the studio. Our interior scenes will all be set in the studio. Our external scenes will have the city of Porto Alegre as their stage, with its parks, avenues, hustle and bustle and urban movements. The film will use multi-techniques in its narrative, such as live action (real cast in a staged or real setting), cartoons and other resources that will come from inspiration in the performing arts, such as manipulated dolls, for example. We will not use any real animals in the circus scenes. They will be in animation or dolls. The only real animals we will use will be some dogs for the final scenes of the film, in which Marco will already be living in the big city and will start being a dog walker.

Is there already any information regarding the cast of the film?
The film’s cast, made up of adults, teenagers and children, will be mostly, if not all, big names in the local and Gaucho performing arts. Apart from actors and actresses, we will work with artists using circus techniques, clowning, among others, all professionals from here.

Production: Maria Clara Centeno

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Matinal – 20/11/23

“The Saddest History in the World”, book by Mário Corso, will be adapted for cinema

The children’s book A História Mais Triste do Mundo (Ed. Bolacha Maria), by psychoanalyst and writer from Rio Grande do Sul Mário Corso, winner of the 2015 Açorianos Prize for Children’s Literature, will be adapted as a feature-length film, with a script and direction by filmmaker Hique Montanari.

The project was included in the ANCINE/BRDE/FSA Public Call – New Directors 2022. The production of the film will repeat the partnership already made in the film Yonlu (2018), with co-production by Container Filmes LTDA, from Montanari, and Prana Filmes, from the filmmakers Luciana Tomasi and Carlos Gerbase.

Produced by Luciana Tomasi and Patrícia Barbieri, the film enters the preparation phase, starting in November 2023, with production and filming scheduled for the first half of 2024, in Porto Alegre and the metropolitan region, with completion and release in 2025. In Brazil, the film will be distributed by the gaúcha company Lança Filmes.