Private Project

Maresia

Where do you draw the line between fact and fiction in one man's life? That's the issue confronting Gaspar, an art expert delving into the biography of Emilio Vega, a controversial painter who drowned fifty years ago, whose presence suddenly makes itself felt through the appearance of a contemporary friend, Inacio Cabrera.

  • Marcos Guttmann
    Director
  • Melanie Dimantas
    Writer
    The other side of the street
  • Marcos Guttmann
    Writer
  • Rafael Cardoso
    Writer
  • Katia Machado
    Producer
    The other side of the street
  • Julio Andrade
    Key Cast
    The Pilgrimm - the best story of Paulo Coelho
  • Vera Holtz
    Key Cast
  • Pietro Bogianchini
    Key Cast
  • Mariana Nunes
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 17 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    600,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Brazil
  • Country of Filming:
    Brazil
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Alexa 2K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2,35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Festival Film du Monde Montreal
    Montreal, Canada
    September 1, 2015
    US Première
  • Havana International Film Festival
    Havana, Cuba
    December 10, 2015
Director Biography - Marcos Guttmann

Filmmaker Marcos Guttmann wrote and directed four short films that were screened in Locarno, Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand among others international film festivals and received several awards in Brazilian festivals: Km 0, Vicente (Vincent), Lapso (Lapse) and Numa Beira de Estrada (On a Roadside). Some of these shorts were sold to Brazilian and European TVs.
He lives in Rio de Janeiro and worked as Assistant Director, Post-Production Supervisor and Line Producer on more than 20 feature films directed by several Brazilian directors such as João Jardim, Lucia Murat, Marcos Bernstein and Sandra Kogut.
Marcos directs series and documentaries for Brazilian TV and is developing his next feature, based on the life of Lars Grael, a Brazilian yachtsman.
Maresia is his first feature film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Maresia was born from a desire to talk about the authenticity of an image. In the novel Barco a Seco, by Rubens Figueiredo, I found a great story with the theme I was looking to tackle for my first film.
Like the book on which the script is based, I tried to make a film with layers, nuances and subtlety. The film does not follow a linear story. There are two stories in one, since the past is not presented in flashbacks.
Maresia talks about feelings and sentiment in a world of male characters, in which everything echoes, but the few words that are said do not reveal the tidal wave of doubts, uncertainties and transformations churning within them.
I chose to cast the same actor to play the characters of both Vega and Gaspar. This choice was an attempt to allow the spectator to experience the sensations and emotions that arise from the themes of the film, which are authenticity and identity.
Gaspar is obsessed by Vega and, in some way, he takes over his life. This is what makes the identification and symbiosis of the critic with the artist possible. In the inspiring words from Rubens Figueiredo:
"Visions of the painter he invented himself. The painter created from the elements of his own life and that he himself embodied many times, unable to become but also unable to invent entirely, as he desired. The painter that without himself however, without his repeated and persistent breath, would not have even existed."

The other motivation for making this film is personal. Eighteen years ago I had a brain tumor and had to interrupt my career as filmmaker. Five years afterwards, I read Barco a Seco, the acclaimed novel by Rubens Figueiredo. I identified with Vega. His creativity without limits and detachment touched me and inspired me to start over my career as film director. I worked for ten years to make this film. Staying focused on the process of creating and completing this film was essential not only for my career, but for my life.