Interview: Aly Muritiba on Brazil's queer Oscar submission "Private Desert"

by Nathaniel R

Sometimes the long lead up to a movie's release can alter a story. In the case of Aly Muritiba's Private Desert, most people who come to it will already be aware of its central premise though the movie treats that as a "reveal". Happily the film works either way. Crossing the border can also change how a movie feels. The initial protagonist, Daniel (Antonio Saboia) is viewed sympathetically but his offscreen history (police brutality) is likely to spark different reactions from country to country, depending on societal views on policing and masculinity.  In the minimalist but never simple story, a lonely cop spontaneously drives several hours to finally meet the woman he's been romancing online. She abruptly ghosts him after an implicit request for reciprocal nudes and we glean, quite a long time before he does, that he's fallen for a queer person. 

We had the pleasure of talking to the director Aly Muritiba about the film, the careful casting of his second lead, and Brazil's contentious history of Oscar selections...

[This interview was conducted through a translator and is edited for length and clarity]

Congratulations on the submission. Do you feel this film is a breakthrough for you?

ALY MURITIBA: Yes. I have been making movies for more than 10 years now. I have never managed to make something that made me feel complete since I criticize myself a lot. This was the first one where I satisfied myself!

Your screenplay's shift in point of view well into the story is fascinating. It's like two movies in one. Was this the idea from the beginning?

ALY MURITIBA: The idea of the structure, the changing of the point-of-view was always there. The long prologue of the man who loves and searches to the female-identifying person who hides but also searches... for something else, for freedom, was always what we had in mind.

There have been a lot of arguments lately about who should play LGBTQ+ character in movies. Was that a concern for you with casting?

I believe this is the first Brazilian movie where a non-binary character is portrayed in this way.  Sara/Robson is not a drag queen or a trans woman, it was always a character who could fluctuate between the two genders. It was important to me that we found a performer that identified and lived outside the binary. We looked for the right actor for a long time.

Your Sara/Robson, Pedro Fasanaro,  is fairly new to acting but your other lead, Antonio, is a longtime professional. Was that a challenge in terms of what they needed from you?

When it comes to directing actors I adapt to them, in particular the schools of acting they come from. Pedro, they're a very sensitive actor and able to imagine themselves doing the things the character does. Pedro needs to feel rather than memorize lines or be strict about blocking. Antonio, on the other hand, has a lot of experience and is a very rational actor. So for instance what I did with Pedro was a lot of improvising but with Antonio it was much more technical.

I loved the look of the film so I was delighted to discover afterwards that it was the same DP as Ixcanul. And Antonio I last saw in Bacarau. In other words I suspect you have good taste in movies (laughs) and hire that way.

I even do homages here to Brazilian films that I really enjoy such as Central Station by Walter Salles and Love For Sale by Karim Aïnouz.  At the end of the day, though, the hiring choices are really about affinity.

[The cinematographer] Luis Armando Arteaga came to me through two Latin American filmmakers who are my friends, Jayro Bustamante and Gustavo Rondón. We started making movies together and travelled to film festivals together. When I saw their features, Ixcanul and The Family, and they were both photographed by Luis I knew I wanted to work with him. He's an artist that's not only talented but in love with Latin American films. 

Antonio Saboia actually came to me. He heard about the script and he reached out and asked to audition because he thought he would be the right actor to play Daniel.

Brazil has had so much political turmoil with the rise of Bolsonaro. There was a lot of controversy in the international cinema community when Aquarius wasn't selected. Does the Oscar selection process still feel deeply political to you? 

Up until recently, the Brazilian government used to select a committee that would then be in charge of selecting the film. The year Aquarius was in contention, it was a conservative committee and director Kleber Mendonça Filho and his crew had protested against the coup d'etat in Brazil. They didn't choose Aquarius merely for political reasons. 

That year I also had a movie that was up for the nomination and I removed my movie because I believed, along with so many other filmmakers, that Aquarius was the right choice. We protested against that method of selection.

The cast of Aquarius protesting the Brazilian coup d'etat at Cannes in 2016

And it's different now?

With the help of the American Academy we have been able to change this system. Now the movie each year is chosen by the Brazilian Academy of Film. Only because of this change Private Desert is able to represent the country. it's a queer movie. It's abouit love that isn't heteronormative. It stands in opposition to everything Bolsonaro represents. So if the government was still deciding on the film, our movie would never have been chosen.

Given your filmography I take it you're interested in Latin American standards of masculinity? 

This is the third movie in which I've explored fragile masculinity in particular. Male affection is something that interests me as a heterosexual man that was raised in a society that's sexist and conservative. It teaches men to love in a way that hurts more than it helps. My first feature To My Beloved (2015) and Rust (2018) were also about this. But Private Desert is the first time I've shown it in a positive light, that people can change. 

I watched your film with my boyfriend and we were so tense but also surprised at how optimistic it felt. 

Things are difficult everywhere. I believe that our greatest weapon for change is a positive perspective. We can build a more tolerant and better society if we keep an optimistic point of view. Since I still have not been able to change the world, I can at least change the world within my movies. [Laughs] I feel like by doing that I can 'contaminate' others. By making a movie about love i can somehow promote love. That sounds religious but it's true.

Private Desert is representing Brazil at the Oscars this year. The Academy will announce the 15 finalists for Best International Feature Film on December 21st. 

Comments

[Arnaud Trouvé]

Great interview. And a very interesting film.