Betânia

Betânia, a 65-year-old family matriarch, is on a turbulent ride on the ever-shifting sands of time. In the wake of her husband’s death, Betânia is forced to move back to the village where she was born, leaving behind a lifetime of memories and a simple, agrarian lifestyle without electricity on the edge of a newborn Brazilian desert not so far from Amazon, the “Lençóis Maranhenses National Park”.

Pushed by the ancestral sound of Maranhão, Betânia and her family fight to maintain balance and a sense of identity while tradition and modernity collide. Despite the imposing sand dunes, polluted water, financial hardship, generational quarrels, life finds a way, as it always does. Like the miraculous wildflowers found in the desert oases that punctuate the barren landscape, Betânia and her family eventually bloom into new vitality, while the world ends.

“Betânia” is inspired by the story of real-life community leader Maria do Celso, who fought for decades to bring energy to her isolated village nested in the dunes and who Botta met while shooting a documentary project back in 2018.

A beautiful and often quite funny film that takes a very simple approach to some complex themes, Betânia is an incredible piece of storytelling that offers charming insights into the life of someone fiercely dedicated to her independence.