ROSA MORENA

Rosa Morena, the film I showed this evening as the projectionist at the local cinema, is very much a modern story. Thomas, a middle-aged and wealthy Danish homosexual, wishes to adopt a child; but finds it almost impossible since he is gay, male and single. While visiting his friend in Brazil, he learns that there is an illegal market for buying children born in the slums. He quickly finds a potential baby, since Maria is poor, already has two children and doesn't know the father of the one she is expecting. The film charts the trials and tribulations of Thomas' quest, his relationship with Maria, and the conflict between money and parental love.

It's a low-key film, which doesn't make judgements. But the real winner is Sao Paolo, the city where it was shot on location. It teems with people, slums, rubbish, poverty and - above all - life.  

Walter Blotscher