-What has been the greatest difficulty you faced in producing your project?

Producing movies in Brazil is always difficult, but we fight bravely against this barrier. The greatest difficulty I faced in producing Doctor Hypotheses was undoubtedly the social isolation during the pandemic. This period forced us to delve into our feelings and emotions. The need for distance and the restrictions imposed completely changed the dynamics of the creative and production process.
This adversity also brought a unique opportunity for emotional recycling and new creative forms, forcing us to reinvent other ways of telling stories. It was a period of intense introspection which, although difficult, turned out to be extremely enriching.
During the pandemic period, I reinvented myself. I’d long had the desire, inspired by Clint Eastwood, to act and direct. I put together a minimal team and went for it. Anyone who has managed to overcome adversity and think of alternative paths for the creative process has made a leap forward in terms of innovation and originality. In my particular case, I rethought alternatives for writing the script, introducing puppets instead of actors and using the actors individually for dubbing, as well as the production process. This reinvention was crucial to the execution of the project and we achieved a surprising and impactful results.

-Do you think the film industry today has been damaged by political
correctness?

The issue of political correctness in the film industry is complex and multifaceted. Some might argue that concerns about political correctness can restrict creative freedom. However, I believe that the real challenge and beauty of the creative process lies precisely in the ability to find new languages and ways to address sensitive and diverse issues.
The film industry reflects its time, and we are in an era where diversity and inclusion are valued more than ever. Being politically correct in the midst of all this transition? I don’t think it’s necessarily a limitation, but an opportunity to explore richer and more varied narratives that might not have had space in other eras.
Political correctness can be seen as a tool that forces us to be more careful and conscious about the stories we tell and how we tell them. It challenges us to be more creative and to find innovative ways of expressing our ideas without disrespecting or excluding groups or people. Ultimately, art is a reflection of society, and embracing these changes helps us to create movies that is more representative and meaningful for everyone.

-What was the greatest source of inspiration for creating your project?

The greatest source of inspiration for the creation of my project was an unexpected moment of illumination, literally. I was in the production company’s garage, reflecting on the times we were facing during the pandemic, when a bolt of light came through the garage vent and created a magical atmosphere in such a magnificent way that it inspired me to visually design the film. This “divine” moment made me think about how light and shadow can be used to tell a story, leading me to look for literary references that would complement this vision.
It was then that I revisited the short story “The Evils of Tobacco” by Anton Chekhov. The conflict and emotional complexity of Chekhov’s text inspired me to develop the script for “Doctor Hypotheses”. From this basis, I was able to script and produce a film that not only explores universal themes, but also uses photography to convey the intensity of human emotions.
There in the garage, in the midst of the pandemic, from that ray of sunshine, the most audacious project of my filmmaking career was born.

-If you could ask a question to a great director from the past, who would you like to talk to and what would you ask them?

If I could ask a question to a great director from the past, I’d like to talk to Federico Fellini, creator of a very particular creative process. Fellini is an icon of cinema who has always fascinated me for his ability to create deeply thought-provoking films. My question to him would be about his creative process: “Federico, how did you transform your ideas and visions into scripts and scenes that captured the essence of life and fantasy so masterfully?
Fellini had a unique gift for exploring the human subconscious and creating narratives that were both personal and universal. Understanding his working method would be an incredible opportunity to learn.
Marcello Mastroianni used to say that Fellini liked faces, and most of the time the face he liked wasn’t that of an established actor or actress for the character, but that of an ordinary person he met on the street who didn’t act and who couldn’t memorize lines, so he created a method to work with”. And sometimes he would ask the then actor to count numbers, so that later on in the dubbing phase he could fit in the correct text. Isn’t that great?

-What do you think of the Wild Filmmaker platform?

By embracing this evolution, the Wild Filmmaker platform is helping to shape the future of cinema, celebrating its rich heritage while promoting innovation and inclusion.
The great Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha, an icon of “Cinema Novo” (one of the biggest film movements in Brazil, which began after the end of World War II and lasted until the mid-1970s), left behind, in addition to his prestigious work, a phrase that marked his career: “an idea in your head and a camera in your hand”. And don’t we all carry a camera in our hands these days? We have excellent quality cameras on our cell phones, and anyone with a cell phone camera can tell a story through images. Global connectivity allows these stories to go viral quickly, reaching audiences around the world. The key is the idea in your head and the knowledge of filmmaking.
Thus, Wild Filmmaker is an innovative platform that has come to add to and open up new horizons, especially for independent movies, where a person with a cell phone and a little cinematographic knowledge can tell a story through images. Global connectivity allows these stories to go viral quickly, reaching audiences around the world.