Private Project

A Train to Utopia

Dignity is a good reason to fight, or to walk away?

Past and present issues on immigration, gender, and dignity in countries - Italy and Brazil - that share many similarities, starting from a biased relationship with their national memory.
A choral teacher on a journey to a surreal São Paulo, that every now and then turns into an Italian city, using music and lyrics as a mean of transport to cross through national, yet somehow, intimate histories.

  • Beth Sà Freire
    Director
  • Fabrizio Mambro
    Director
  • Zita Carvalhosa
    Producer
    O Povo Brasileiro, A Casa de Alice, Obra, Fotografação
  • Alessandro Bonifazi
    Co-Producer
    La Leggenda di Kaspar Houser, Happy Days Motel, Tensione Superficiale
  • Giacomo Lamborizio
    Delegate Producer
    Fade Out, 1938 - Quando scoprimmo di non essere più italiani, Transatlantico REX
  • Gian Battista Tondo
    Delegate Producer
    Los Aviones Que Se Caen
  • Telma Oliveira
    Post Producer
    Journey to the End of the Night
  • Piero Damiani
    Key Cast
    "Piero"
    Master Chef Brazil
  • Igiaba Scego
    Key Cast
    Beyond Babylon
  • Mônica Benício
    Key Cast
    Activist, Widow of murdered LGBT+ politician Marielle Franco
  • SELTON
    Key Cast
    http://www.seltonmusic.com/
  • André Brandão
    Photography
    O Futebol, Obra
  • Alessandro Montecchi
    Photography
  • Miriam Biderman
    Supervising Sound Editor
    Carandiru, Reza a Lenda, A Primera Morte de Joana
  • Tales Manfrinato
    Sound (direct)
    Amigas de Sorte, Um dia com Jerusa
  • Ricardo Reis
    Sound Mix
    Reza a Lenda, A Primera Morte de Joana
  • Julia Bisiliat
    Color
    Man Proposes, God Disposes
  • Brando Lupi
    Music Arrangements
    La Solitudine dei Numeri Primi
  • Raffaello Fusaro
    Script Consultant
    Italy in a Day, Restiamo Amici
  • Marco Minciarelli
    Script Consultant
    N.L.A., L'Ultimo Piano
  • Douglas Dwyght
    Script Consultant
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Trem da Utopia
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Social, migration, gender equality, music
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 34 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 31, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    350,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Brazil
  • Country of Filming:
    Brazil, Italy
  • Language:
    Italian, Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    digital, 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Eh! films
    Distributor
    Country: Brazil
Director Biography - Beth Sà Freire, Fabrizio Mambro

Beth Sá Freire and Fabrizio Mambro collaborate in this poignant debut documentary film. Beth is the deputy director of the Short Film Festival of São Paulo, Brazil, the largest in Latin America; Fabrizio is a film editor and artistic director of cultural events in Rome. "A Train to Utopia" was born from a shared reflection on national identity and the deeper meaning of the immigrant experience, having music as a common thread.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

We begun with the curiosity to discover the Italian spirit of São Paulo. When we started shooting this film in Brazil though, it was between the first and second round of elections that would see an openly racist and homophobic president elected.
All the people we had involved as testimonials felt this event with great apprehension, so we listened to stories that went from topics like misery, abuse, and humiliation to the feeling of dual-nationality pride in what became a voyage of discovery of universal human values.