Synopsis : Valentina, a 17-year-old girl, moves to the countryside of Brazil with her mother Márcia to start afresh. To avoid being bullied in her new school, Valentina tries to enroll with her social name and keep the fact that she is trans a secret. However, the girl and her mother quickly face dilemmas when the local high school needs a second parental signature for enrollment. Presenting trans actress Thiessa Woinbackk's debut , Valentina is a reflection of the real life hardships that society forces a strong young woman to endure and embrace who she is.
Festival History : Official Selection- Outshine Florida LGBTQ Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival
Awards : Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival: Award Winner - Outstanding Performance, Audience Choice Award for Best Brazilian Fiction Feature at Săo Paulo International Film Festival
Director :
Cássio Pereira dos Santos
Producer :
Erika Pereira dos Santos
Screenplay :
Cássio Pereira dos Santos
DOP :
Leonardo Feliciano
Editor :
Alexandre Taira
Cast :
Thiessa Woinbackk, Guta Stresser, Ronaldo Bonafro, Letícia Franco, Rômulo Braga, Pedro Diniz
Born in 1980 in Patos de Minas, and also having roots in Cruzeiro da Fortaleza (MG), Cássio Pereira dos Santos studied cinema at the University of Brasília, where he directed fiction and documentary projects. After finishing film school in 2003, he wrote and directed eight short films, including A Menina Espantalho and Marina não vai à praia. His works have been selected at several international film festivals, including the Warsaw Film Festival, the OutFest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, Aspen ShortsFest, Palm Springs, Hamburg Short Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Prix Jeunesse Munich, Brasília Festival of Brazilian Cinema, Tiradentes Film Festival and more. His works have received more than 50 awards. As a screenwriter, Cássio contributed to films such as Guigo Offline, an LGBTQ feature film for Brazilian television, winner of the Best Brazilian Feature Film Award at Festival Mix Brasil. Valentina is his debut as a director in features. Currently Cássio lives in Uberlândia, Brasil, and works on the development of his second feature.