Ilha

An island that is impossible to leave for those who are born there. A man is kidnapped, brought to the island and filmed. Kidnapper Emerson is a young island-born man who has a passionate wish to make a film. He envisions a film about his own life, but needs help with this. His radical solution to get the film made leads to a film about both him and his hostage, re-enacting their lives before the camera, while allowing poetic licence.

When real life increasingly shapes the narrative of the film, things get out of hand, including the film itself. Island is a frame narrative with many layers and references. Partly thanks to the convincing lead cast, the blurring of the lines between (their) fiction and reality is transferred to our notions of cinematic reality. Evolving from a playful game with cinema to an allegoric tale of Brazil’s untold stories.