cinematography
Pierre de Kerchove
editing
Isabela Monteiro de Castro
sound
Valeria Ferro
Miriam Biderman
Ricardo Reis
Armando Torres Jr.
production design
Marcos Pedroso
costumes
Kika Lopes

cast
Jamilli Correa (Marcielle)
Fátima Macedo (Danielle)
Rômulo Braga (Marcílio)
Dira Paes (Aretha)
Emily Pantoja (Carol)
Samira Eloá (Cynthia)
Gabriel Rodrigues (Danilio)
Enzo Maia (Marcéu)

producers
Carolina Benevides
Marianna Brennand
co-producers
Luis Galvão Telles
Beto Gauss
Francesco Civita
production
Inquietude
co-productions
Globo Filmes
Canal Brasil
Pródigo
Fado Filmes
with the support of
Ancine
FSA-BRDE
República Portuguesa Cultura – ICA
in association with
Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Delphine Tomson
Les Films du Fleuve
VideoFilmes
Maria Carlota Bruno
Dominique Welinski
Braulio Mantovani
Marcelo Pedrazzi
Felipe Sholl
Marcelo Grabowsky
Marcelo Maximo

Thirteen-year-old Marcielle lives on Marajó Island in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Trapped by her mother’s resignation, yet galvanized by her older sister’s idealized escape, she begins to understand that the future doesn’t hold many options for her. Determined to change her destiny, she decides to confront the violent system that governs her family and the women of her community.

2024 Manas
2012 Francisco Brennand (doc)
2007 O Coco, a Roda, o Pnêu e o Farol (doc)
2001 Capoeira Freedom of the Soul (short, doc)

“It was during a documentary research project in the remote villages of the Amazon rainforest that I met women who had endured immense trauma since a tender age, suffering sexual abuse inside their homes while also being sexually exploited at commercial barges with hardly any chance to escape. Unfortunately, most of us women have a story of abuse, be it of a sexual, moral, or psychological nature, which has left deep scars and trauma. The #MeToo and other women’s rights movements have encouraged and enabled us to break the silence and expose abusers around the world. But what about these invisible women we do not even know exist? Through Manas, I want to give a voice to these women and girls who would never be heard otherwise, honoring the stories they shared with me. I see cinema as a compelling vehicle for social and political transformation and hope that Manas will be able to mobilize viewers’ empathy and break the enormous taboo surrounding this difficult reality that affects all of us women.” (Marianna Brennand)

Marianna Brennand, after graduating with a degree in film at UCSB, returned to Brazil to make a documentary about her great-uncle Francisco, a Brazilian artist globally recognized for his ceramic work. Investing in a poetic narrative approach based on her character’s diaries, Francisco Brennand premiered in 2012 and won both Best Brazilian Documentary and Best Brazilian Film at the São Paulo Film Festival. In 2007, Brennand had directed another documentary, O Coco, a Roda, o Pnêu e o Farol, about the rich musical tradition of “coco de roda” in Olinda, a city in the state of Pernambuco. Manas marks Brennand’s feature film directorial debut and is the result of a ten-year research into the complex and delicate subject of the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and teenagers on Marajó Island, in the Amazon rainforest.