LOVELING
Benzinho
Directed by Gustavo Pizzi
Brazil, Uruguay | 2018 | 97 min | drama | Portuguese
On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Irene has only a few days to overcome her anxiety and regain her inner confidence before sending her eldest son out into the world.
Cast & Crew
Director: Gustavo Passos Pizzi
Screenplay: Gustavo Passos Pizzi, Karine Teles, Leite de Sousa Pizzi
Cinematography: Pedro Faerstein
Editing: Livia Serpa
Producers:Tatiana Leite, Gustavo Pizzi
Co-producers: Rodrigo Letier, Agustina Chiarino, Fernando Epstei
Production Companies: Bubbles Project, Baleia Filmes
Co-production Companies: TvZERO, Mutante Cine
Gustavo PizziBrazil
Festivals&Awards
Sundance Film Festival – World Dramatic Competition
IFF Rotterdam
Malaga Film Festival – Best Iberoamerican Movie
Within the Family – Special Jury Award
Festival de Cinema Gramado – Best Actress, Best Suporting Actress, Best Film by the audience & by the critics
press quotes
A wonderfully intimate project.
A warm and wonderfully universal love story that comes across surprisingly unconventional for something so familiar.
Brazilian star Karine Teles shines as a mother with her hands full in a melodrama that radiates with lived-in truth and everyday detail.
In Pizzi and Teles’ hands, such kitchen-sink melodrama takes on a kind of poetic profundity.
There’s real beauty in the moments Pizzi has chosen to share.
Variety
Loveling wisely avoids easy answers, and its deft mix of humor and melancholy never falters.
Karine Teles brings ferocious warmth and humor to the lead role. (…) Without pandering to audience sympathy, she creates an exceptionally sympathetic focal point for a story that embraces the messy tenderness of life as it’s lived.
Pizzi and DP Pedro Faerstein use the widescreen frame to vivacious effect, finding something lyrical even in everyday chores.”
The Hollywood Reporter
There’s no denying Loveling’s rambunctious charm
Audience-pleaser
Karine Teles puts in a powerful performance
Loveling relies on the charm of its chaotic central family (…) and the warmth of Teles to seduce and dazzle audiences into submission.
Screen International
