Berlin Competition Entry ‘The Blue Trail’ Reveals First Clip, Gabriel Mascaro Talks Ageism in Cinema: ‘Elderly Bodies Are Tied to a Nostalgia For Life’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Gabriel Mascaro’s “The Blue Trail,” playing in competition in Berlin, marks another great milestone for Brazilian cinema in a year where the country got its first best picture Oscar nomination with Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here.” Mascaro follows in the footsteps of Salles playing in competition in Venice and Karim Aïnouz playing in competition at Cannes with “Motel Destino,” three consecutive Brazilian films playing in the most prestigious strands of the three most important European film festivals. “Each one of these films is so different from each other but has great strengths,” Mascaro tells Variety ahead of his Berlinale bow. “I feel very proud to be a part of it.” “The Blue Trail” takes place in a near future Brazil where the government relocates the elderly to senior housing colonies so the younger generations can fully focus on productivity and growth.

Tereza (Denise Weinberg), nearing 80, refuses to accept her fate, embarking instead on a journey through the Amazon to realize one last wish before losing her freedom.

Watch an exclusive clip below: “For the last ten years, I’ve been maturing how to think about the aging body in cinema,” says Mascaro of the project. “I’ve searched for references and saw how difficult it was to find films with elderly main characters and how often elderly bodies were tied to a certain nostalgia for life.

It is almost as if the elderly body is a vessel for memory, something to preserve a life lived, always inching closer to death.