Rafael Barboza’s new animated film Utopia stars acclaimed Brazilian actor Rejan Faria and French-Angolan anchor Matumba Joaquín. Faria starred in Gabriel Martins’ Sundance production “Mars One” and Anna Muirrat’s Berlinale production “The Best Mother in the World,” while Joaquín starred in Alejandro Amenábar’s “The Captive.” The production has secured Anderson Mahansky, who worked on Netflix’s animated hit “Super Drug,” as animation director and associate producer.
“Utopia” was selected as one of the pitch projects of Ventana Sur Animation!, a division of the prestigious Buenos Aires market dedicated to promoting Latin American film and television on the international stage.
The film, co-written by Barboza with Verner Salles, is set in 1695 and follows a family of slaves who, following a call from their spiritual helm, organize a revolt and flee in search of the utopia of Quilombo dos Palmares. The group travels a perilous path to find Quilombo in the midst of a great war. But the war is not over.
“Utopia”, provided by La Ursa Cinematografica
In an interview with Variety ahead of Ventana Sur, Barbosa emphasized that the story is set in “the longest-running and most organized refuge for enslaved Africans outside of Africa.” “This is the community that led the largest resistance movement against slavery in Brazil. This film aims not only to bring this story to a modern audience, but also to reinterpret it from the perspective of Afrofuturism and Afrosurrealism.”
Barbosa said the team used techniques for “Utopia,” primarily a combination of 2D cutout animation. “But the dream-like layer of the script allows us to experiment with different styles. We wanted to create a 2D version of our characters’ dreams and visions in a style that was more subjective and poetic than the other layers of the story. We built it frame by frame.” Among the references for this project are Annecy winner Luis Bolognesi’s A Tale of Love and Fury, Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, Rémi Besançon and Jean-Christophe Lee’s Zarafa, and, most notably, José Miguel Ribeiro’s Angolan animation Nayora: In Search of Ancestry.
“Animation, one of the most elitist fields in an already elitist art form like film, has a severe lack of Black professionals,” the director added. “One of the strengths of ‘Utopia’ is its commitment to mapping and bringing together teams of Black animators around strong projects.”
Barbosa’s label La Ursa Cinematográfica specializes in original works by emerging black artists, with projects that bring contemporary approaches to black stories and dismantle stereotypes. It also focuses on changing national and international perceptions of Barbosa’s home state of Alagoas. “As Brazilian funding becomes more localized, we hope to establish strong co-production partners in the coming years, which will allow us to grow and expand our productions to compete on the global stage,” the director added.
The emerging state of Alagoas is feeling a booming momentum 60 years after its most famous export, Caca Diegues, became one of the founders of Brazil’s fastest-growing Cinema Novo. This year, Alagoas had a historic presence at Cannes, with Stella Carneiro’s Cowgirls, Showgirls and Pigs selected for Directors’ Fortnight, Ulises Arthur’s Never Dreaming selected for the Cannes Film Festival, and Lais Araujo’s Infantry selected for La Fabrique Cinema’s program.
“Utopia”, provided by La Ursa Cinematografica
La Ursa is a driving force in the region. Along with Estudio Núcleo Zero, he produced Cavalo, directed by Barboza, the first publicly funded feature film by a black man in the state. In addition to Utopia, the label currently has five more features in production, including Barboza’s fantasy film Look at Me and Stella Carneiro’s feature debut, Girls of the Mangrove, which are in post-production. La Ursa also co-produced Werner Salles’ sci-fi feature How to Set Up a Scene with Estúdio Núcleo Zero.
“Utopia” is produced by La Ursa Cinematográfica in collaboration with Estúdio Núcleo Zero and Grao Filmes. Producers are Adriana Pinto, Juliana Remez, Junior Matsuura, and Felipe Guimarães, with Anderson Mahansky serving as associate producer. The film received the Guilherme Rogato Award from the City of Maceio, with production funding from the Brazilian Federal Audiovisual Sector Fund (FSA/Ancine), in addition to securing funding from the Paulo Gustavo Law through the state of Alagoas in northeastern Brazil.
