Meu nome é Bagdá

My Name Is Baghdad
“You guys are awful. You don't even know the girl and the first thing you say is: ‘She's fucking hot.’ She's probably doing a whole lot of cool things you don't even know.”

Rolling through São Paulo on her skateboard, Baghdad wears her hair short, her trousers pulled up high, and her sweater tucked into the waistband. Baghdad is cool; she is a girl who respects whom she wants to respect – everyone else might find wet clumps of toilet paper hurled their way. She lives in a house of strong-willed, emancipated women and spends her days at the skatepark with a group of guys who like to hang around shirtless, playing cards and plucking their chest hair. Just like her protagonist, the director glides and swivels through the film with free, easy confidence and swaggering originality, not shying away from darker issues like violence, sexism and discrimination – yet also celebrating solidarity and resistance.
by Caru Alves de Souza (Director, Screenplay), Josefina Trotta (Screenplay)
with Grace Orsato, Karina Buhr, Marie Maymone, Helena Luz, Nick Batista, William Costa, João Paulo Bienemann, Gilda Nomacce, Paulette Pink, Emílio Serrano
Brazil 2020 Portuguese 96' Colour World premiere

With

  • Grace Orsato (Bagdá)
  • Karina Buhr (Micheline)
  • Marie Maymone (Joseane)
  • Helena Luz (Bia)
  • Nick Batista (Vanessa)
  • William Costa (Deco)
  • João Paulo Bienemann (Clever)
  • Gilda Nomacce (Gladys)
  • Paulette Pink (Gilda)
  • Emílio Serrano (Emílio)

Crew

Director Caru Alves de Souza
Screenplay Caru Alves de Souza, Josefina Trotta loosely based on the novel "Bagdá, o Skatista" by Toni Brandão
Cinematography Camila Cornelsen
Editing Willem Dias
Sound Design Pedro Noizyman
Sound René Brasil, André Bellentani
Production Design Marinês Mencio
Costumes Silvana Marcondes
Make-Up Britney Federline
Assistant Director Camila Nicodemos
Casting Paula Pretta
Production Manager Stella Rainer
Producers Rafaella Costa, Caru Alves de Souza

World Sales

Reel Suspects

Produced by

Manjericão Filmes

Tangerina Entretenimento

Caru Alves de Souza

The director, screenwriter and producer was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1979. Her most recent feature film Meu nome é Bagdá won the Grand Prix of the International Jury in the Generation 14plus section of the 2020 Berlinale. She has also directed fiction and documentary films for Brazilian television. Her TV series De menor is inspired by her eponymous debut feature film which premiered at San Sebastián and went on to win Best Film at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

Filmography

2008 Mascarianas; documentary 2010 Vestígios (Remains); documentary 2011 Family Affair; short film · O mundo de Ulim e Oilut (The World of Ulim and Oilut); short film 2013 De menor (Underage) 2018 Causando na rua; documentary TV series 2019 Causando na Rua; serie, 13 episodes 2020 Meu nome é Bagdá (My Name Is Baghdad) 2023 Tudo igual…SQN (All the Same…but Not); serie, 8 episodes 2025 De menor (Underage)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025