Housemaids

Director Gabriel Mascaro put cameras in the hands of seven adolescents, and asked them to film their housemaids for a week. He edited the material down to a 75 minutes documentary about work ethic, family values and looking at the bright side of life. The result is part fly-on-the-wall experience, and part moving depictions forged by the relationship between maid and family.

Venusa is love sick, Lucia has lost her anti-semitic prejudices, Grachina is a nocturnal worker and obsessed with soccer. Lena has just become a mother, Flavia takes care of disabled boy, and Sergio is the only man in a female-dominated profession. Some of them work in nice, large houses, others in tired old shacks. In the way Mascaro has put it all together, you get a gripping insight of the complex balance between work and intimacy that evolves between so many families and their housemaids in modern day Brazil.

Gabriel Mascaro from Brazil started his career as a documentary-maker, known for High-rise (2009) and Housemaids (2013). He made his first feature film, August Winds, in 2014. This year, Neon Bull, winning the Special Jury Prize during the 72^nd Venice Film Festival, brought him acclaim worldwide.

DIRECTOR CONVERSATION
There will be Q&As with director Gabriel Mascaro after the screenings at Vika, October 11 4 p.m., and October 13 9.30 p.m!