Gueda Liberto

To escape her abusive husband, garbage collector Gal packs her two young children, Rihanna and Benin, onto the top of her cart and heads across São Paulo to her cousin’s house. As she struggles to avoid the dangers of the streets along the way, she convinces the children that they are on a big and exciting adventure. When they arrive at her cousin’s house, they are warmly welcomed and fed. However, what initially seems like a safe haven soon turns out to be a trap. Gal realises that not only her own safety is at risk, but also the future of her children.

“Nobody Leaves Alive” by André Ristum is shot in beautiful but also distancing black and white. Looking at the Venice line-up, this seems to be a trend this year among the maestros of cinema. The film is inspired by true events that took place in the last century in the “Colonia” hospital in Brazil. Whoever didn’t fit the standards of society, or their family’s perception of it, was locked away, tortured, and killed. There were altogether more than 60,000 victims. Hope dies last, and some of the inmates don’t give up the fight. We’re reminded of film classics such as “One Flew Over the Cookoo’s Nest” or “Alcatraz”.