Skin of Glass

This film has been made by Denise Zmekhol, the daughter of the architect Roger Zmekhol. His apparently best known building was the Skin of Glass in Sao Paolo, built in the 1960s. Many years after his death, in the 2010s, Denise travels to Sao Paolo to revisit the building to reconnect with the memories of her father. At this time the building was run down and inhabited by homeless squatters.

The architecture of the Skin of Glass, and a bit of other work by Roger Zmekhol, plays some role here, the building is the focal point of the film, and I watched this in an architecture film event, but there is much more to the film.

It is a deeply moving film about family relations, Brazilian history and politics, Sao Paolo and its social conditions, and a bit of psychology. It is a sad film with some optimism. It tells the story of the building as well as some other stories (like that of Roger's life, but also the squatters and homeless are featured), with some unexpected twists. It also has symbolic and poetic value and is about dreams and what they become.

I didn't have high expectations for this film, but was strongly impressed in the end. Maybe as there is so much going on, depending on your motivation to watch this, there will be some stuff that you are not interested in, but anyway. I think it's a very engaging film, and it has a lot of soul. Strongly recommended.