Fakir

"Widow of the great filmmaker Rogério Sganzerla (of 'O Bandido da Luz Vermelha'), actress Helena Ignez ended up finding in her husband's abstractionism a path to follow in her career as a filmmaker. She has already polemized with 'A Garota do Calendário', a film that is at the same time daring and extremely tiring, and excited with the strange 'Ralé'. Now she visits the documentary genre with the provocative 'Fakir'. As the title itself suggests, the feature film portrays the popularity of fakirism in Brazil, throughout Latin America and in France. Originating from the circus, this show consists of body domination, pain resistance, breathing control, reduction of heartbeats, among other techniques. The collection presents the success after each performance and the backstage of the artists who make this artistic expression possible, which becomes a kind of cultural resistance in times when national identity is attacked from all sides."