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
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

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

Produced by

Manjericão Filmes

Tangerina Entretenimento

Caru Alves de Souza

A director, screenwriter and producer born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1979. Her debut feature De menor premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival before going on to win Best Film at the Rio International Film Festival. She has directed two mid-length documentaries for the Brazilian channel TV Cultura and ten episodes of the documentary TV series Causando na rua for CINEBRASiLTV. The development of her second feature film Meu nome é Bagdá was supported by the Tribeca Film Institute and the Ibermedia programme.

Filmography

2011 Family Affair; short film 2012 The World of Ulim and Oilut; short film 2013 De menor (Underage) 2018 Causando na rua; documentary TV series 2020 Meu nome é Bagdá (My Name Is Baghdad)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020