Dona Rosa
A film by Mathias Mangin, Lucas Mandacaru
This film was screened as a part of the 2015 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF18)
Brazil, Documentary/Biography, 2013
16 min, HD, Color/Black & White
Portuguese with English subtitles
At the age of 95, Dona Rosa works every day, exercises, takes care of the house and strongly believes in fate. Born among the Lebanese upper class of São Paulo, Brazil, she married Rachid, a modest young man from the countryside who was studying to be a doctor. In 1947, a mysterious eye condition threatens her with blindness. Fate brings the young couple to New York, where Rachid studies ophthalmology in order to save his wife. Upon returning to São Paulo, fate strikes again, and the couple learns that Rachid has an incurable form of leukemia. As he is dying, he tells Rosa, “If you want to get over my death, start working. If I die today, start working tomorrow.” To this day, 45 years later, Dona Rosa has done just that.
Regional Premiere
Print Source: Mathias Mangin – Igloo Filmes, mathias@igloo.art.br