About this Event
The documentary Incompatible with Life, to be screened this April at the HELENA SOLBERG CINECLUB, brings a heart-wrenching portrait of maternity and pregnancy, where grief and pain are the starting point for a mature reflection on reproductive rights in Brazil.
There will be drinks and nibbles to welcome the audience, and the screening will start at 6.30pm.
ABOUT THE FILM
Incompatible with Life | Incompatível com a vida
Dir. Eliza Capai | 2023 | Brazil | 93 min. | Portuguese with English subtitles
From her personal experience of pregnancy with a diagnosis of fetal malformation incompatible with life, the director Eliza Capai sheds light on women who have gone through similar situations in Brazil, where abortion can lead to Pr*son. Her process of terminating an unviable pregnancy intertwines with visceral conversations with these other women, creating a choir of voices reflecting on motherhood and prenatal grief through poetic lenses.
Exposing one’s pain in front of the camera is nothing new, but Capai makes a courageous and generous move, reinvigorating the “genre” of first-person documentary, usually made in very traditional ways. The film is introduced as an intimate investigation into pregnancy and painful journeys, gradually opening up the scope and revealing a political and urgent discussion blurred with moralism.
Incompatible with Life won the prizes of Best Film and Best Editing at It’s All True Film Festival, the most important documentary festival in Brazil, and Best Direction at FICViña (Chile).
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Eliza Capai (São Paulo, 1979) has a degree in journalism from the University of São Paulo – USP and was a fellow at MIT Open Documentary Lab. Before releasing the intimate documentary Incompatible with Life, she built her career filming realities that were very different to her own: in Here Is So Far (Tão longe é aqui, 2013), she told stories of African women. In The Tortoise and the Tapir (O jabuti e anta, 2016), she investigated the impact of gigantic hydroelectric plants built in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. In Your Turn (Espero tua [re]volta, 2019) – premiered at the Berlinale, where it was awarded the Amnesty International and the Peace Film prizes, being screened afterwards at more than a hundred festivals worldwide – she followed the student movements that took over Brazil in 2015. She also directed the first Netflix Brazilian true crime series, Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime (Elize Matsunaga: Era uma vez um crime, 2020).
ABOUT THE HELENA SOLBERG CINECLUB
The Cineclub of the Embassy of Brazil in London features a monthly programme of Brazilian and Brazil-related film screenings and talks. It aims to showcase a broad spectrum of films based on a variety of themes, from various periods with distinctive aesthetic and narrative styles, bringing fresh insights into Brazilian film production from the past and the present.
Keep an eye on the Embassy website and our social media channels in order not to miss our first-rate lineup. For updates, you can subscribe to the Helena Solberg Cineclub mailing list at [email protected]. Admission is free, but RSVPing is required through our Eventbrite page.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Espaço Hélio Oiticica and Auditório Alberto Cavalcanti, 14-16 Cockspur Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
