My Name is Baghdad

"Skateboarding has always been an excellent tool to understand society. After all, anyone can step on a board with wheels and try to do some tricks. However, the sport has always been associated in Brazil with marginalization - much due to an absurd ban in São Paulo by Mayor Jânio Quadros. Later, skateboarding evolved, became a sport in the Olympics and gained idols, such as Raíssa Leal and Kelvin Hoefler. And it is precisely because of this social metaphor that runs through skateboarding groups, as well as its evolution in Brazilian society, that the film 'My Name is Bagdá' is so interesting. Directed by Caru Alves de Souza, from the award-winning 'De Menor', the feature film shows the journey of Bagdá, a 17-year-old girl in the outskirts of São Paulo. Her story, in the film, is built through those who are by her side, mainly through her relationship with Emílio (Emílio Serrano), owner of a salon, and with her own mother Micheline (Karina Bhur). But we also understand her through those who are against her, mainly through the machismo that arises in everyday situations and that makes her skateboarding journey even more challenging. An excellent example of Brazilian cinema, showing how the peripheries of Brazil have life, good stories and depth in social relationships."