O Vale dos Martírios

In the dusty, sun-drenched landscapes of early 20th-century Brazil, a farmer makes a decision that will irrevocably alter the emotional architecture of his household. He adopts a young boy, intending to provide a companion and brother for his only daughter. Their childhood is a pastoral idyll, a period of pure, uncomplicated bonding. However, the father, driven by a desire for social elevation and traditional discipline, sends the boy away to a distant boarding school. Years of silence and distance pass, acting as a crucible for their emotions. When the young man finally returns, the innocent fraternal bond has fermented into a volatile, romantic yearning. The film explores the friction between social expectations of kinship and the undeniable pull of a love that was nurtured in the cradle of shared youth.