Winner - Best Director Award - Rio International

Winner - Best Director Award - Rio International Film Festival
REVIEWS
“Beautifully made, it has great deal of charm and elegance... more than a stand out”
Mark Adams – Screen Daily (Inglaterra)
“Eminently likeable”
Jay Weissberg – Variety (EEUU)
“Refined and nuanced”
Rodrigo Fonseca – O Globo (Brasil)
“Beyond the Road establishes its young director as a promising name whose career should
be closely watched”
Pablo Villaça – Cinema em Cena (Brazil)
“During a little less than an hour and a half, Braun displays an array of touching images.
Confirming his talent as a director, he closes the film with an anthological shot”
Marcus Mello – Revista Aplauso (Brazil)
“Road Movie about Uruguay moves in search of beauty, and is a pleasure to watch”
Inácio Araújo – Folha de São Paulo (Brazil)
“Delicately, Braun’s first feature presents a visual experiment mixing textures in a sensory
mosaic... its cinematography evokes Nestor Almendros’ in Terrence Malick’s Days of
Heaven”
Rodrigo Fonseca – O Globo (Brazil)
“A cute, feel-good film”
Mariane Morisawa – IG (Brazil)
“The camera travels a path that transforms into a wonderful journey... visually its a jewel
that crosses with tenderness a territory of great natural beauty”
Gustavo Iribarne – La Republica (Uruguay)
PRESENTATION
Combining a modern documentary aesthetic with breathtaking scenarios, Beyond the
Road narrates the journey of Santiago and Juliette, two youngsters in search of themselves
travelling in a foreign country. The film is the feature debut of braziloian director Charly
Braun, awarded for his short films Quero Ser Jack White y Do Mundo Não Se Leva Nada.
Beyond the Road made its world premiere at the Rio International Film Festival in october
2010, where it was awarded the Best Director award. It has played in all the most important
festivals of its production countries (aming them the Punta del Este, Montevideo and São
Paulo International Film Fests).
Its international premiere was at the Seattle International Film Festival, and the European
premiere will take place at the II International Film Forum of St. Petersburg, in Russia.
The film’s Uruguayan theatrical release happened in June, and Brazilian release is scheduled
for September. El estreno comercial en Uruguay cuenta con el apoyo del grupo Movie y
ocurrirá el 3 de junio. El estreno en las salas de Brasil, donde la película ganó un concurso
de apoyo de Petrobrás, se dará a través de la distribuidora Vitrine Filmes en las salas de todo
el país el 9 de septiembre de 2011.
SYNOPSIS
Santiago, a twenty-something Argentinean, takes a boat to Montevideo to claim land willed
to him by his parents. On his way out of the capitol, he notices Juliette, a young Belgian
woman who was also on the boat. After discovering they’re heading in the same direction,
the two travelers hit the road together. Both are looking to make a change in their lives:
Santiago used to be an investment banker in Manhattan, but his parents’ death has inspired
him to try something different. Juliette is hoping to ignite a relationship with a Uruguayan
commune leader she’d met in Costa Rica. The two strike up a playful friendship as their trip
brings them in contact with peculiar locals, Santiago’s wealthy, well-connected family, and
the hippy commune’s earthy residents. Braun combines French, U.S., and South American
influences with dramatic Uruguayan landscapes and his lead’s relaxed chemistry to create
a road movie that captures the airy restlessness of youth, in the tale of two characters who
start out digging into their past, only to find they’ve unearthed their present.
DIRECTOR
Actor and filmmaker, Braun recieved his B.A. in Film and Writing from Emerson College,
Boston, in 2000. In 2001 released www.17lifefables.com, internet´s first totally interactive
live-action film, which has also participated in important new media festivals such as
FILE. In 2001 lived in Los Angeles, where he worked as assistant director and production
assistant for music videos, feature films and commercials. Back to Brazil in 2004, during 4
years was part of the brazilian cast for Robert Le Page´s The Seven Branches of the River
Ota. In 2004 directed the short Quero Ser Jack White, exhibited in over 30 festivals in 10
diferent countries, including the Rotterdam Film Festival. This short was awarded, among
other prizes, best short in the Rio Film Festival 2004. In 2005 directed the short film Do
Mundo Não Se Leva Nada, released the following year, which played in many brazilian and
international festivals, such as the Tribeca Film Festival, in 2007. He has acted in theatre,
film and television. Currently releasing his first feature film, Por El Camino, which received
best direction award at the 2010 Rio Intl. Film Festival.
BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR
How was the film’s shoot?
This is a road-movie, my favorite of all film genres, specifically because it has very few rules
to it. We shot pretty much in a cronological order, and our script served more as a guide, as
a map, than as a script in itself. There was a lot of improv and our tiny crew was always ready
include any interesting aspects of our journey into the film.
How would you define the film’s characters?
Traditionally road movies portray characters going through some sort of crisis, who are in
search of an identity, or of a new identity. This is definitely the case with both Santiago and
Juliette. They are young, they are cosmopolitan in a way and they seem to know what they
are looking for, but it soon turns out that more than anything they are running away from
something, from a life of boredom and disilusionment. Their crisis, however, is much more
internal than external.
Why did you choose Uruguay for this journey?
My dad is Argentine but lives there. His mom was Uruguayan. Because of that I have a
very close relationship with that country, where I spent all the long summers of my life. I
have always associated Uruguay with moments of beauty, helped by the countrys beautiful
landscapes and cordial people. In fact the country appears as a third character in the film.
I really wanted to document it before so many changes arrived, pushed by real estate
speculation and globalization in general. The countr is also in search of a new identity. Its
contemporary reality in many way antagonizes with a past of glory and a recent past of
decadence, in a fascinating microcosm of cultural, geographical and social contrasts.
BEYOND THE ROAD
A Lynxfilm, Waking Up Films production.
Produced by Charly Braun. Coproducer, Patrick Siaretta.
Written and Directed by Charly Braun.
With: Esteban Feune de Colombi, Jill Mulleady, Guilhermina Guinle, Hugo Arias, Naomi
Campbell. (Spanish, English, French dialogue)
Camera (color, HD-to-35mm), Pablo Ramos, Bruno Alzaga; editors, Fernando Coster,
Braun; production designer, Agnieszka Kuroslawski; sound (Dolby Digital), Alvaro Riet,
Luiz Adelmo. Running time: 85 MIN.
Features songs by Kevin Johansen, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Bola de Nieve, Cuarteto Zitarrosa,
Donovan and others.
Press
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Anna Luiza Muller y Aline Martins
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tel.: +5521 2286 3699
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