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The Blue Trail film image; woman admiring a giant garden sculpture of a human face

The Blue Trail

O último azul

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In a near-future Brazil, elderly citizens are forcibly relocated to live out the rest of their days in a senior housing colony once they hit 80. When the age cutoff is suddenly lowered, 77-year-old Tereza (Denise Weinberg) learns that she has just days before she’s to be taken away from her job, home, and family. Desperate to fulfill a lifelong dream of flying in a plane, she resolves to travel through the Amazon — a decision that places her in contact with a lonely riverboat smuggler and a mysterious snail whose “blue drool” has the power to reveal one’s future.

Recalling the 1958 Japanese classic The Ballad of Narayama as well as Chie Hayakawa’s recent Plan 75 (VIFF 2022), the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a timely, incisive treatment of ageism and authoritarianism. Richly conceived, lushly photographed, and filled with mordant humour, the film is a fantastical odyssey not soon forgotten.

 

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, Berlinale 2025

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socorrás, Adanilo

Credits
Country of Origin

Brazil/Mexico/
Chile/Netherlands

Year

2025

Language

In Portuguese with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
86 min
Award Winners Drama Horror & Sci-Fi
Desvia Filmes, Cinevinay

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Credits & Director

Producer

Rachel Daisy Ellis, Sandino Saravia Vinay

Screenwriter

Gabriel Mascaro, Tibério Azul

Cinematography

Guillermo Garza

Editor

Sebastían Sepúlveda, Omar Guzmán

Original Music

Memo Guerra

Art Director

Dayse Barreto

Gabriel Mascaro headshot

Gabriel Mascaro

Gabriel Mascaro, born 1983, is a Brazilian director and screenwriter based in Recife, Brazil. Best known for his films Neon Bull (Venice, 2015), Divine Love (Sundance, 2019) and August Winds (Locarno, 2014), Mascaro’s films have garnered over 50 international awards. Neon Bull was named one of the New York Times’ Top 10 Best Films of 2016, and that same year, Mascaro had a retrospective at the Lincoln Center in New York. His latest film, The Blue Trail, premiered in Competition at Berlinale 2025.

Filmography: Housemaids (2012); August Winds (2014); Neon Bull (2015); Divine Love (2019)

Photo by Guillermo Garza

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