Babenco: Tell Me When I DieBabenco: Tell Me When I Die
(2020)
Close video

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

A master filmmaker's poetic immersion in his recollections and dreams.

Trailer

Why watch this film?

Controversial and talented, filmmaker Héctor Babenco left a complete filmography, full of highs and lows, but which puts his personality on the screen - from the strong 'Carandiru', passing through the classics 'Pixote' and 'The Kiss of the Spider Woman' to the misunderstood and incomprehensible 'My Hindu Friend'. The trajectory of the filmmaker, who died in 2016, takes on more intimate and powerful contours now with 'Babenco: Someone Has to Hear the Heart and Say Stop'. Directed by actress, filmmaker and former Babenco wife, Bárbara Paz, the feature film shows some of the last moments of life of the Argentine-born Brazilian director with a subtlety and care that could not have come from anyone else. Death here is inevitable, but treated with care, understanding and a sense of "passage" that helps the film gain new contours. Selected by Brazil for a spot in the 2021 Oscars and awarded in Venice for Best Documentary.

Filmelier

Filmelier

Our suggestions

Plot summary

A blend of two nationalities, a master of the moving image, Hector was in life a little of everything – from a tomb salesman to spaghetti western extra, from a photographer of steakhouses to an Oscar nominated movie director. Polemical, controversial, demanding and genial, he won in Locarno, competed in Cannes, shone in Hollywood and directed titans like Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson and Willem Dafoe. The film is a black and white poetic immersion in the filmmaker’s recollections and dreams.

To share

Where to watch?

Available at home