Documentary Retratos da Várzea premieres in Belo Horizonte

Director Lucas Campolina is premiering his first feature film, Retratos da Várzea, with a free screening at Arena Mineirinho in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on November 14.

The film follows the lives of people involved in amateur football, known as futebol de várzea. It depicts characters such as Damião Elias, a street cleaner facing the privatization of his team's field, and Janaína, a cook who trains children in a social project.

The story also includes Jean, an evangelical preacher called to a team bench, and the Capitão Eduardo Futebol Clube, which organizes community work to build new fields for amateur sports. Campolina stated that his passion for the sport and the way it creates a sense of belonging inspired the project. He also noted that the increasing elitism of football since the 2014 World Cup prompted him to focus on the amateur scene.

The film previously premiered at the 50th International Film Festival in São Paulo as part of the New Directors Competition. Following the free screening in Belo Horizonte, the film will appear at the 30th forumdoc.bh Documentary and Ethnographic Film Festival on November 20. After these events, the movie will enter commercial distribution in cinemas across Brazil.