Brazilian Jeferson De’s “Carolina Maria de Jesus,” which won the A.H. Media Production Award at this year’s Goes to Cannes showcase, aims to capture the ‘cinematic dimension’ of one of Brazil’s literary greats, says Maria Gal (“Perfect Love”) who produced the film and stars as Carolina.

In post-production, the film is based on the worldwide bestseller “Quarto de Despejo” (“Child of the Dark”), Carolina’s diary published in 1960. De Jesus describes her life in the 1950s as a waste picker in the Canindé favela in São Paulo, Brazil. Through sheer talent and self-determination, she rises above extreme poverty and racism.

“This is not only a Brazilian story. It is a profoundly human story about dignity, motherhood, affection, hunger, education, survival, and the pursuit of a dream,” says Gal.

“Carolina Maria de Jesus is a fundamental figure in our history and in Brazilian literature, and telling her story through cinema carries enormous artistic, political, and historical significance,” director Jeferson De (“Broder”, “M8”) told Variety.

Along with Maria Gal (Move Maria), the film was produced by Clélia Bessa (Raccord Produções). Co-producers include Globo Filmes, Rosane Svartman (RSMTS), Cris Arenas (Buda Filmes), Sara Silveira (Dezenove Som e Imagens) and Mact of France, with distribution in Brazil by Elo Studios. Maíra Oliveira (“Aruna’s Magic”) wrote the film and Sundance winner Lilís Soares (“Mami Wata”) is the film’s cinematographer.

Goes to Cannes is the Marché du Film’s works-in-progress initiative designed to promote film festivals around the world, nurture upcoming talent and provide an inclusive platform for industry networking. This year’s edition had entries from seven international film festivals.

The two other winners were German Golub’s “At Your Service” (Estonia, Germany), getting France’s Ciné+ OCS Award, and Daniel Romero Bueno’s “The Daughters” (Spain, U.K.), receiving the Sideral Cinema Award from the Spanish studio.

Variety had a chance to talk to Maria Gal after the film’s inspiring win in Cannes. Here are just a few of her reflections:

I remember my mom and me reading “Child of the Dark” when I was a teenager in the US, and we both loved the book.  Why do you think it’s taken this long to turn Carolina’s life story into a film?

Maria Gal: I believe one of the reasons it has taken this long for Carolina Maria de Jesus’s life story to reach the screen is because the Brazilian audiovisual industry, despite Brazil being a country where more than 56% of the population identifies as Black or mixed-race, still reflects deep structural inequalities. And this is especially paradoxical when we are talking about Carolina Maria de Jesus — one of the most important writers in Latin American history, one of the first Black women writers in Latin America to become an international bestseller, and an author whose work crossed borders decades ago through “Quarto de Despejo” (“Child of the Dark”). There has also long been a belief within parts of the market that Black stories, Black protagonists, and Black-centered narratives either “do not travel,” “do not sell,” or only work when connected to violence, poverty, crime, or stereotypical roles.

Even though it hadn’t been made into a film until now, there were theatrical plays and musical compositions made based on Carolina’s life.  Were any of them successful in Brazil?

Gal: Yes, absolutely. Carolina Maria de Jesus’s story has inspired theatrical plays, musical works, and artistic adaptations in Brazil for decades, and many of these projects were highly successful both critically and culturally. This year, she even became the theme of the samba school Unidos da Tijuca during Carnival, one of the country’s most important cultural expressions.

Carolina named her diary “Quarto de Despejo.” Can you talk about its meaning?

Gal: Internationally, the best-known English title of the book is “Child of the Dark.” But if we think about a more literal and symbolic translation of the expression “Quarto de Despejo,” it would be closer to something like Junk Room or Dumping Room, because in Brazil a “quarto de despejo” is the space in a house where discarded, forgotten, or unwanted objects are stored. And that is exactly the powerful metaphor Carolina uses. She said that the favela was treated by society as the city’s “dumping room” — a place where poor, Black, and invisible people were pushed.

How did you prepare to play the role of Carolina? 

Gal: As an actress, it was an extremely challenging role in every sense — emotionally, physically, and artistically. During the preparation process, I lost 18 kilograms because I understood that Carolina’s body needed to carry on screen the marks of the hunger she experienced throughout her life. Carolina often survived on bone soup and other improvised ways of feeding her children, so I felt it was necessary to bring that reality truthfully into both my body and the visual language of the film.
I also cut my hair and went through a very intense physical transformation process. I walked through the streets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as a paper collector. I collected paper, recyclables, and garbage in the streets in order to minimally understand the daily life, the silences, the gazes, and the social invisibility Carolina experienced.

Some people accused Carolina of being a witch because she was able to read, which wasn’t the norm at the time.  Yet, she was actually very Catholic even though the Church rejected her mother for having illegitimate children.

Gal: This question reveals a lot about Brazil during that period. Carolina was a Black woman, poor, with very limited formal education, but extremely intelligent, a reader, and a writer. For many people at that time, it was almost inconceivable that a woman like her could write — and with such strength and social awareness. So there was a great deal of prejudice and many attempts to de-legitimize her intelligence.
At the same time, Carolina had a very strong relationship with faith and with God. But her very existence challenged the social and moral standards of that era: she was a Black woman, a single mother, a writer, and independent in an extremely conservative Brazil.