Experiencing Interruptions?

My pleasure, Estela

Estela harbors the secrets and desires of an imprisoned woman. The routine of her tidy home shatters on a sunny day. She goes out for a revealing walk to the market and there, like a daydream, she meets the lustful gaze of the butcher Adamastor. What forces will she unleash?

  • Mauro Baptistella
    Director
    Ouvidos Calados (2018), 40 dias no deserto (2023), Minha vida de cineasta (2022), A mulher que se casou com Iauaretê (2021)
  • Carlos Baptistella
    Writer
    40 dias no deserto (2023)
  • Mauro Baptistella
    Writer
    Ouvidos Calados (2018), 40 dias no deserto (2023), Minha vida de cineasta (2022), A mulher que se casou com Iauaretê (2021)
  • Suêmi Terra
    Producer
    40 dias no deserto (2023), Gonzaga (2012), Á beira do caminho (2012), Rio te amo (2014)
  • Merlin Kern
    Key Cast
    Ouvidos Calados, Revés de um parto
  • Roney Villela
    Key Cast
    De repente miss, Jorge da Capadócia, A morte habita à noite, Veneza, Vidas cinzas, Nise: O coração da loucura
  • Ricardo Camargo
    Cinematographer
    Revés de um parto, 40 dias no deserto, Mais um dia, Ouvidos Calados
  • Gyp Baptistella
    Art Director
    Deságua
  • Marcel Marques
    Sound designer
  • Paulo Terra
    Costume designer
    A sombra da terra, 40 dias no deserto
  • Miriam Puga
    Makeup
    A sombra da terra, 40 dias no deserto, Mais um dia
  • Mauro Baptistella
    Editing
    40 dias no deserto (2023), Minha vida de cineasta (2022), A mulher que se casou com Iauaretê (2021) A sombra da terra (2022)
  • Renato Oliveira
    Color Grading
    40 dias no deserto (2023), A mulher que se casou com Iauaretê (2021), Mais um dia (2022)
  • Erik Cardoso
    VFX
    Biônicos, 40 dias no deserto
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Prazer, Estela
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 5, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    18,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Brazil
  • Country of Filming:
    Brazil
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • 10th Ocean City Film Festival
    Ocean City
    United States
    March 5, 2026
    World Premiere
    In Competition
  • 11th edition of Filmfest Bremen
    Bremen
    Germany
    April 16, 2026
    European Premiere
    In Competition
  • 21st Fear no Film
    Salt Lake City
    United States
    June 19, 2026
    In Competition
  • III Festival Nacional de Curtas Flávio Migliaccio 2026
    Rio de Janeiro
    Brazil
    July 23, 2026
    Brazilian Premiere
    In Competition
Distribution Information
  • Elipse Films
    Distributor
    Country: Brazil
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Mauro Baptistella

Mauro Baptistella is a director, screenwriter, and post-production director. With experience in composition, stop motion, animation, and post-production, he has participated in several national and international feature films. His goal is to combine these skills for new cinematic possibilities with narrative sensitivity.
In 2018, he released "Ouvidos Calados," his first feature film as a director. The project participated in several festivals, including the 41st Guarnicê Cinema Festival. He worked on the feature films "Dois Coelhos" (Best Visual Effects - Grand Brazilian Film Prize) and "Free Havana" (both in 2012), "Solace" (2015), "Mais Forte que o Mundo" (2016), "O Pântano do Morto" (in production), "Acampamento Intergalático" (2022), "Alice no mundo da internet" (2022), and "O Faixa Preta" (scheduled for 2023).
In short films, he directed "Televício" (1998), wrote and directed "Porto Feliz Terra das Monções" (1999), wrote and directed "Querida Mamãe," which was selected for the final of the Festival do Minuto in 2001, worked on the editing and post-production of "Revés de um parto" which was awarded at several festivals (2018), wrote and directed "A mulher que se casou com Iauaretê" (2021), wrote and directed "Minha vida de cineasta" (2022), wrote and directed "40 dias no deserto" (2022), and worked on the editing and post-production of "A sombra da terra" (2023).

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Director Statement

"The love of others fuels envy, and envy is one of the sisters of violence."
This sentence resonated deeply with me when I first read the original short story by Carlos Roberto Mantovani, which inspired Pleasure, Estela. It threw me straight into the moral and social dilemmas that permeate contemporary Brazil, a country where desires are often silenced, especially those of women.
Estela, a middle-aged housewife, is trapped in a colorless routine, where even the shine of the polished floor seems more alive than she is. Her yearning for freedom, once vague, almost imperceptible, takes form when the iridescent light of her inner star finally begins to flicker.

It is a gesture of life, of drive, perhaps the first she’s allowed herself to feel in a very long time. In a country where violence against women escalates alongside conservative religious rhetoric, Estela bears the weight of repression both external and internal.

But then, the enigmatic gaze of Adamastor, the butcher, pierces through her and something is set ablaze. A silent ecstasy, a rapture. In that instant, Estela breaks free from her cocoon.

Guided by that impulse, I felt compelled to craft intense, almost untamable scenes between two strangers meeting in the middle of a marketplace. Adamastor is not just a man, he is the sea. He draws Estela into his vastness, allowing her to overflow with everything that had long been suppressed.

This plunge is her rebirth: a space where she can exist fully, where her desires no longer ask for permission. Even when surrounded by judgmental gazes and violent gestures seeking to silence this catharsis, Estela resists.

Her journey is also a metaphor for a Brazil striving to break free from the chains of moralism and emotional scarcity. Estela had been confined to her home, living in drought. By diving into this sea of pleasure, she seeks, and finds, the abundance she longs for and deserves.