Uma Paciência Selvagem me Trouxe Até Aqui

Script and direction by Érica Sarmet, with the participation of singer Zélia Duncan (Vange) and Bruna Linsmeyer (Rô), among other actresses.

It is a simple story, but full of meanings and affirmative positions of lesbian female empowerment. Vange lives alone in a small apartment with a cat in Niterói. She decides to go out one night, sits alone at a bar table in the city of Rio de Janeiro to watch the world go by. Afterwards she goes to a club, where she meets Rô and her friends. There is an atmosphere between Vange and Rô. Rô is direct, asks for a ride back to Niterói, getting on Vange's motorcycle. While the camera is filming this return, the song Noite Preta, a hit by Vange Leonel, re-recorded by Zélia Duncan, plays. In Niterói, the friends join Rô for a nightcap at their house, inviting Vange.

Between one scene and another, testimonies from all the actresses who act in the short film about their experiences and memories as lesbians.

The most intimate scenes are of a beautiful lightness and plasticity.

I watched this as part of the daily recommendation on Mubi, a platform I just started using. I didn't realize it was going to be a short so I was a little taken aback when it ended but I was completely drawn in by the characters, the images, the mood. I liked the generational bridge between the characters and, as a woman in her mid-50's it did make me reminisce about queer culture in the 1990's versus now. The dialogue from Vange is quite compelling and true on the point of how it may have been for her at a younger age versus the young women now. I will definitely revisit this piece again. It is something special.