"Mario Patrocínio's Maria Vitória is the writer-director's first narrative feature, but it brings the chops of his documentary background to ground the story of the titular young woman (Mariana Cardoso). Under the relentless eye of her controlling father Nacho (Miguel Borges), Maria is subjected to a rigorous soccer training regimen that makes having a social life nearly impossible. When her estranged brother Bruno (Miguel Nunes) unexpectedly returns to their small Portuguese village, the film expands from a father-daughter duo to a fraught triangle."
"Bruno's queerness challenges his father's stereotypical machismo; her brother's former absence and her father's constant presence are both equally damaging to Maria. Looming over all three is the death of Nacho's wife in a 2017 fire for which the father has yet to take responsibility for his part. Following the film's premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival, I sat down with Patrocínio to talk about shooting in the remote Portuguese mountains, his casting process and my unexpected connection to his music supervisor."
The film uses documentary sensibilities to portray Maria, a dedicated young soccer player constrained by her controlling father Nacho and an intense training regimen that isolates her. The unexpected return of her estranged brother Bruno complicates family dynamics as his queerness confronts Nacho's machismo and both siblings suffer from past absences and overbearing presence. An unresolved 2017 fire that killed people and involved Nacho's wife hangs over the family, creating deep, unacknowledged culpability. Location shooting in the remote Serra da Estrela mountains emphasizes a harsh, cold rural environment and resilient village life.
Read at Filmmaker Magazine
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