Waiting for the Carnival (2019) Movie Script
1
Cachoeirinha, Caets, Caruaru,
Tacaimb, Taquaritinga,
Toritama.
These cities are in the Agreste,
a dry and poor region
of Northeastern Brazil.
My father was a tax inspector
in this region.
When I was a child,
he'd bring me along on his trips.
It was a rural world
with street markets,
corn and bean farmers,
and goatherds.
Hardly any sound of traffic
nor people walking
on the streets.
This is the Agreste
I keep in my childhood memories.
On the road connecting Caruaru
to Santa Cruz do Capibaribe,
gigantic billboards announce the arrival
to the small village of Toritama.
WELCOME TO THE CAPITAL OF JEANS
My reason for coming here
is quite different from my father's.
As far as I remember,
Toritama had a different pace.
At 8 AM you could hardly see
any activity on the streets.
The urban landscape has changed.
Jeans factories have been built
in the large empty lots.
And most of the houses have become
small backyard workshops
called "factions".
What time do you start to work?
5, 6 AM.
Then I work until 9 or 10 PM.
I'm at home, right?
- You don't get tired?
- No.
I take a shower and lie down.
Watch a bit of TV and
wake up ready for another day.
Sunday to Sunday?
When there's work to be done, I like it.
The more I work,
the more money I make.
This is my son-in-law.
He's your son-in-law?
He's in the family to stay.
- He's an eager beaver.
- What do you mean?
He's a hard worker,
he knows the ropes.
This is what we call
Toritama gold.
Blue jeans, blue gold.
The factions belong to people
who built their own business?
That's right.
I worked for 7 years
in a factory.
Then the boss went broke
all of a sudden.
We all went our separate ways.
Then I bought my first machine,
others did the same.
Today, each of us has their own machine.
Their own faction.
You wouldn't go back?
No. It's fine this way.
We each have our own machine.
It works out.
He's taking over the interview.
No problem.
Didn't you ask him to be here?
Are we done?
We're done.
You keep butting into her interview.
He says you're butting in.
I saw she was having trouble
expressing herself.
Is it bad? You can cut it all.
- He just butts into everything.
- It's because he's smart.
Is it good or bad?
You want us to interview you instead.
You want to be the star of the film.
I don't know, you're the boss.
It's just that she was having
a hard time expressing herself
about the jeans,
how it all began.
She's a pioneer,
she used to make these small boxes.
You should have told them
all about your life.
Let me explain: I began assembling,
these boxes when I was 12.
Why'd you say
your boss went bankrupt?
I said that I worked in a factory
for 7 years, right?
The factory went bust
and we all went our separate ways
and bought their own machines
and have their own businesses.
We can't just omit things, right?
We have to tell the truth.
Lunchtime is the only moment of silence
in Toritama.
I remember that silence well.
It lasted all day long.
I hear music
coming from inside a faction.
It is a rap song saying:
"I dreamed that I was rich."
I don't want to talk.
I'm too "ashamed".
I can't speak just like this.
Tell me about your work.
I do a bit of everything.
Knead glue, turn pieces inside out,
stitch them up with the kids.
Do you like to wear jeans?
I love it.
I like them. People look better,
more elegant.
We listen mostly to funk,
rap, reggae.
I'm a father.
My daughter's name is Julia Beatriz.
- How old is she?
- She's 6, 7 months old.
- How about you?
- I'm 19.
Becoming a father at 19, 20 years old
is a trend here in Toritama.
I have a family but I'm single.
I mean, the trend is having kids,
not getting married.
You get the job done, right?
- I did 1200 pieces myself yesterday.
- Really? Is that true?
It's true.
Each one of us makes around
1000, 1500 pieces each.
Do they get the job done?
Yeah. They might look skinny,
they might be ugly,
but they're very professional.
You just gonna sit there?
If I can't find it in me to get up,
I won't.
My oh my oh my...
So the work is too much for you.
You just lie around. Right?
They caught me taking a nap.
Darn it...
- You screwed up.
- How do you like that?
Oh, boy!
I got caught in the act.
Can you believe it? Snoozing.
Does this guy work or just sleep?
- No, he works hard.
- Really?
He's a hard worker.
People come looking to hire him.
Come looking for him to sleep or work?
To work, for sure.
Oh boy, I am telling you
that my name is "work"
and my nickname is "overtime".
What more do you need to say?
Here you get paid
for the work you do.
The harder you push yourself,
the more money you make.
You keep to your work,
and don't waste time chatting.
It's all about production here.
Listen, you've got a right
to try out all the jobs in the world,
but you gotta pick one.
Listen up, there's a lot
of different professions,
which you probably know
better than I do,
because I'm young, in my prime,
starting life now...
And when you're 32
all you can do is pray to make it to 80.
I mean, it's up to God,
you could die at any moment.
But of all the jobs in the world,
you gotta pick one.
What's the best job in the world?
Not working for anybody.
Being your own boss.
Making an honest living, with dignity,
answering to no one,
And it's really nice to be able
to lie back and sleep, like I did...
Sleeping so peacefully...
I'd have slept some more.
We're our own bosses here.
We set our own hours.
If we had a boss,
we'd have fixed working hours.
We come in at 7 AM,
stay until 8:30 AM,
go home for breakfast,
then come back
and stay until 11:30 AM.
Then we go home, have lunch
and come back at 1:30 PM.
When it's 6:30...
- 6:30 when?
- In the evening.
We go back home at 6:30 PM,
for dinner,
and then around 7:30 PM,
we come back and stay until 10:00 PM.
And when you get back home?
Take a bath and fall exhausted into bed.
It's tiring, but we earn more, right?
We earn more.
This is the house that served as lodging
for civil servants
who were passing through the region.
The large room contained
only beds and mattresses.
I try to recognize the place,
but nothing seems the same.
The lodge was made into
a backyard factory,
like so many other houses here.
Here you work with production, right?
Yes.
Explain how that works.
What do you do here?
Well, if you make 100 pocket openings,
at 0.025 USD apiece,
you earn 2.50 USD.
If you make 1000 pocket openings
in one day, you earn 25 USD.
If you make a fly, the part that covers
the zipper, it's 0.05 USD.
You make 1000 a day,
you earn 50 USD.
Depends on your production.
No matter if it's sewing
or anything else.
I think that today it's much better
to work for yourself.
Our life here isn't bad, not at all.
If anyone thinks it is, they're wrong.
Not everybody has the privilege
of being healthy, having work,
making a living, having food on the table
when the weekend comes.
There's a lot of people,
I see on TV, in Africa, dying of hunger,
countries at war,
and thank God we don't have
any of that in Toritama.
So is this a bad life?
No way. It's dying that's bad.
Do you want more juice?
Hey, Antonio.
Go play in another sector.
Don't go there.
Go play in another sector.
Come on, get going.
Go play inside with Maisa, go on.
Go on home, Arthur, will you?
If you don't,
I won't give you the phone.
Come on!
I'm giving you the phone, so get out.
Toritama was like a mother to me.
Anybody who badmouths Toritama
is not blessed by God.
If you come here with an empty stomach,
you leave fat, like me.
It's a good place to work.
We have lots of people
from other cities.
It's like So Paulo now,
everybody used to go to So Paulo
to work, right?
But it wasn't easy there.
You had to have education.
But not here. For example,
even if you're a nobody when you get here,
you might not know anything,
but you'll find work in Toritama for sure.
Get out of the way, Arthur.
No... I go when I can,
when I can't I just stay here.
Do you need to go out of town
to have fun?
You have to go out of town
if you want to eat out,
if you want to swim in a pool...
There's nothing here in Toritama.
It's all about work.
I started to cut sugarcane
at the age of 13.
I made 3, 4 USD a week.
Then I adapted little by little...
Like I said, cutting sugarcane is a job
where no one tells you what to do.
So that's a good thing in life.
Sometimes, I do dirt work
for house-building,
or I cut down a coconut tree,
a mango tree.
I am sought after in my region
to cut down trees.
Because if I don't,
someone else will.
But I don't like
chopping them down.
The other day I had to chop
a coconut tree.
I climbed up the coconut tree,
chopped off all its branches.
The owner gave me 12 USD.
When I was about to chop it
in three parts,
a guy with a chainsaw arrived
and said,
"So, how much to help you
cut the coconut tree?"
I say, "Man, I'm already here
to earn some spare change."
He said, "At least help me
make some money for gas."
I offered 2.50 USD, as I'd already
done the worst part. He said yes.
And he cut it down in a jiffy
with his chainsaw. But I got sad.
No money in the world
is worth cutting down a fruit tree!
Money is the world's undoing.
Everybody knows that.
No money, no evil.
So money creates evil. Why?
Lots of people got the guts
to work for money,
others are cowards, dodgy.
This capitalism everyone talks about,
though each person has their own opinion,
but in capitalism, money talks loud.
so it's pretty complicated
in this world.
Some are born into money,
others with nothing
and so they are screwed.
As the Lord said,
"Many... but few..."
One day they stole
my little piggy bank.
And I thought to myself,
"I'm here feeding the little porker
and they go and steal it,
how low can you stoop?"
What was the hardest job you ever had?
Pulling out tree stumps, no doubt.
Oh my God...
Took me a whole day
to pull out one.
And I didn't pull it out.
I had to cut it up.
I cut it up,
I didn't pull it out.
But no job in the world is worse
than pulling out tree stumps.
It takes you a whole day
to yank one and you don't even get it out.
Cutting sugarcane,
loading trucks...
Digging holes, making jeans...
Is making jeans hard?
No, it's not.
I decide to mute the sound.
The deafening racket of the
machinery makes me anxious.
Now it's the repetitive
motion that disturbs me.
I put on a soundtrack.
The hands dance in a ballet,
following the rhythm.
I try another angle.
The distress caused by
the repetition remains.
My father was a tax inspector.
Today, I feel like an inspector
of other people's time.
I am overwhelmed
by the memory of my father
and by the anguish
of this repetition.
People's time filled by endless work.
I try to escape
from this hectic rhythm.
I decide to roam
the rural area of the city
in search of landscapes
I remember from my childhood.
There, I meet Mr. Joo.
He's the only one in Toritama
who still has time to look up at the sky.
And wait for the rain to come.
It goes from there to there.
Sometimes it's more to this side.
Year in and year out,
what doesn't change in Toritama is that
it always rains after the Carnival.
It might be over there, but nobody
can see clearly behind that veil.
Doesn't the rain cloud create that veil?
Right?
So then, when it moves over
in this direction, like this,
I can see the rain from here.
It has barely any wind.
If the cloud goes like this,
the wind is pulling the rain
that way.
If it does this,
the wind is pulling it this other way.
Just like kicking someone's legs out.
He'll fall this way, right?
Kick with your other foot,
he'll fall this other way.
I have that experience as well,
thank God.
Dona Adalgisa Bezerra was born
and raised in the rural area of Toritama.
She remembers all the people
that walked through her front door.
Your mother was dating
your father,
they'd come by here together.
I was a little girl
and I remember.
It is scary how kids remember things.
Cleusa, when she was younger,
she'd say,
"I have faith in God
that I won't die here in Pernambuco.
I want to die in So Paulo."
She'd say that.
She moved to So Paulo,
spent the longest time there.
Then she came back and died here.
Only God knows our fate.
Everyone here but you makes jeans.
Don't you make jeans as well?
Not me. Heaven forbid!
I'm a farmer.
In Ms. Rosilda Maria's farm,
chicken breeding
has been replaced
by sewing machines.
The chicken coop is now used
to store fabric
and a single pet chicken remains there.
Her name is Sara Jane.
The countryside is taken
over by a new realm.
An industrial world in expansion.
- And what are you doing here?
- Shorts.
We get the shorts like this,
work on them and make this model here.
And then there's the pants too.
These here, nothing on them,
and he's already
working on them there.
You might've seen girls
wearing these,
with holes in them,
the kind I'm making here.
Tell me, is it better working here
than in a factory?
Let me tell you,
I make more here than in a factory.
In a regular job, rain or shine,
your salary is the same.
Here, how much we make is up to us.
I could make 375 USD a week,
or even more.
Depends on how much I work.
But, on the other hand,
we don't have labor rights, understand?
So it's good on the one hand,
but not on the other.
It's nice to have money, sure,
but if you start getting greedy,
you lose sight of all the rest,
just the money.
I think different,
I think about my future.
Tomorrow, you understand?
What's the use
of piling up money
and then when I get old,
what'll I do with it all?
At least, when I get older,
I can retire, understand?
I'll have paid my share of social security.
But he thinks different, he's young,
I respect his opinion.
Toritama continues to expand.
In any empty lot, new houses are built.
They will serve as new factions.
Leo is helping build a house for Josivaldo.
The neighborhood already has a name:
New Coconut Drive.
Despite the name,
there are no coconut trees in sight.
A place where it doesn't rain
but the grass is green: Toritama.
As payment, Leo will be guaranteed
a job in Josivaldo's faction.
He will have more autonomy
and more flexible work hours.
The bricks fell over.
They'll hold together,
they just need some mortar.
I like to take the shovel and do this.
I sold so much sand in this world
that I'm like a sand slinger.
Oh my Jesus...
Canario is the only
goatherd in these parts.
The lack of rain makes him walk for miles
to find pasture for the goats.
Crossing the highway
is the riskiest moment of the journey.
He's already lost some
animals while crossing.
It's so hot that even the goats seek shade.
Canario gives each goat a name
and knows them all by heart.
Quiet, Bela!
OK, Bela. Come on.
Come on, Big Ear.
Hey. This way.
Oh, you bastard.
In the old times
we lived on farming,
cattle, sheep, goats,
but then after jeans came,
everything changed.
Today people invest their time
in making a lot of money.
I have no illusions about making money.
My illusion is... working
with things I like.
Making money just to humiliate people...
I don't like making money
to humiliate anybody.
I like to keep the things
I love doing.
And rich folk,
they're all greedy.
All they want is to make
more and more.
They even forget about God,
because God for them is money.
There's this one buddy of mine,
god is money for him.
I joke with him, "It can't be like
that, we have to do what we like."
You can't just go chasing money, money,
money, until we're all used up...
Money won't get anybody anywhere.
Come forward to hold them.
Easy. Do it slowly.
There's no rush.
Come on. Do it slowly, there's no rush.
Hey, Edilson, see if any have crossed.
What I remember most
about the Agreste
is a quick sunset,
covering it all with melancholy.
The night came, with its mysteries.
And on the radio, at 6 PM,
everyone listened to The Angelus.
During my childhood, the sidewalk was
where people sat in rocking chairs
waiting for time to go by.
In Toritama, the sidewalk is a place
where time is spent working.
Stop that!
Those who aren't in factories or factions
spend time on the sidewalk
cleaning stray threads.
It is the last stage of the process.
On the sidewalks of Toritama,
we met "Gold Man".
He spends most of his time standing there.
He produces exclusive items
for clients who like what he wears.
The name of his brand is Star Jeans.
I decided to shoot "Gold Man"
the way he likes to be seen:
modeling his own creations.
Ask away, and I'll answer.
Go on.
What about your clothes?
You always dress like this?
My style is different.
And there's something else:
I add this detail here.
I come up with the idea
and wear it, for people to see.
And then I make it for other people
because they ask me to.
And I make it for them.
Because they see me wearing it.
I am an advert.
Clothes have to have details,
if not, they won't sell.
They might sell, but not much.
That's what clothes
are all about.
I have blue, red, yellow jeans...
All types.
Blue here, white, two colors,
I come up with them.
I know how to wash.
I take my things to the laundry
and wash them differently
for me to use, you get me?
But I don't work that much,
the boys do.
I don't work much.
Having a drink is my thing.
I love me some luxury.
Here's 175 USD.
Can you put this in the car, Edson, please?
Gisele owns a jeans brand and is in charge
of the entire production process.
She spends most of her time in her
car, which is her office.
Good afternoon.
Has anybody seen Severino?
Thank you.
- This one here is a prototype.
- Right.
You're going to do something...
- This here is Lycra, Severino.
- Right.
No need to overdo it,
you know, right,
you can't do much on Lycra,
but do something pretty.
You want a designer piece, pretty.
And this one here?
That's Lycra too,
see what you can do with it.
This one is 100% cotton.
You want me to use the laser on it?
I think on this one, Severino.
This one will work.
Want to try the laser on it now?
Let's do a test.
I've learned how to get
the distressed look on the machine,
I only knew about doing that
with the handheld machine.
And then I saw the piece catching fire.
I thought, "Man, it's burning."
When I started working here,
all we had was that small machine,
and I was already,
"Man, look at what it can do!"
And now I'm working
on a big machine like this one.
It's great.
Robson, what's your dream?
My dream?
Getting rich,
like everybody else.
In Toritama,
Sunday is not a day of rest.
There's a street market.
That's where
the factions' weekly production is sold.
It's all or nothing.
TV?
We're on camera.
Not so fast, son.
People get excited about our arrival.
They think we're from a local network
to publicize the market.
Watch out!
I explain that we are doing a film
about labor to be shown in theaters,
but nobody gets excited
about that.
Come get your shorts.
White Bermuda shorts, just out.
The documentary's camera is watching you!
Special offers today!
She'll have a little trouble
putting it on, with her big butt.
- Oh, really?
- Yep.
Look here, these shorts
are on my blog.
Today's fashion.
For men, sizes 36 through 50.
These are distressed jeans,
they show some skin...
I like them,
because you show the lining,
and then the leg.
This one here is a big seller.
Everyone's gotta have a pair.
It shows the knees.
And here we have a skirt,
for secretaries, and for Evangelicals.
Well made, with lots of details, so...
How much does it cost? 6 USD?
It's worth it because of all the details,
with the slit in the back
to give you more room,
making it easier for girls to walk,
go about their days, not just in church,
but in everyday life.
Who does the creative work?
I think it's every salesman,
the owners of the brands.
They get an idea,
make the model, create it,
the stylist draws it up
and then it hits production,
ready to be sold all over Brazil,
and even abroad, right?
So that's why the city is known
as the jeans capital.
Cut!
Brazil begins here!
Buying any product from our stand
you'll get a discount...
Don't miss these discounts
in the jeans capital!
Step right up and take a look
at our discount prices!
It's all here!
Here in Toritama, Pernambuco.
Toritama is the jeans capital.
Step right up,
I'm slashing prices.
A city with 40,000 inhabitants,
that corresponds to the production
of 20% of all jeans made in Brazil.
That means that we make
20 million items a year.
My voice is gone.
Because when I get ready
on Sunday
to come to the store
and see the crowds of people,
all coming to buy,
I get real excited.
Don't you do some things
for the pleasure,
for the joy of it?
Well, that's what I do.
I always say I'm not a salesman,
I'm a friend to all salesmen,
because clients start here,
but they're the ones who make
really good sales,
and then they come back,
it's great!
Come on in and take a look.
Prices start at 3 USD.
Jeans are our main product
in Toritama.
If jeans disappeared,
99% of Toritama would disappear too.
For newcomers this place is dynamite.
We only leave here at 6 AM.
We start packing
up at around 5 AM,
but some will stay until 2 PM.
The park nearby closes at 3 PM.
But business is slow at this time?
It's already slowed down.
We stick around
just to say we're open.
Good time to take a little nap.
My dream is to keep working.
My dream is to see my business grow.
To have a comfortable house,
not a luxurious one.
I have dreams, but none of them
come to mind right now.
Dream in which sense?
If I have a dream in life?
To have my family by my side.
My dream today is to have a house.
I move my feet in my sleep.
I dream that I'm working.
For us who work with jeans,
the dream is to get to the top,
have your own business,
own the fabrics.
It's not possible for me
to be a millionaire.
Have a home, live happier,
raise my children,
leave a mark.
I dream about a personal life,
out there.
The best adventure
in the whole world is the sea,
because the sea never ends,
everyone knows that.
The end of the sea is the sky.
Some guy says, "You talk a lot
for a know-nothing,"
but only God knows my heart
and my mind, so...
Once I asked God to make me a prophet.
Because being a prophet isn't...
it's not just saying,
"I'm a prophet."
I would like to be someone
who could cure other people,
If somebody came up to my door
and I could help them.
But then, on the other hand,
you've got cachaa.
I like to drink,
so it's no use going to church
and then when the brother says,
"Do you accept the Word?"
I redeem myself,
but tomorrow I sin again.
I don't have the right "disciplination",
I'm not prepared for the occasion.
So let me be the way God made me
and I'll go on just like the sea,
like the wind, here and there.
Just yesterday I had a couple drinks.
But my problem ain't the
booze, it's working.
Everything in life is work.
"Too many words,
too many sins."
What's best in life is the law of silence.
When you're working
you're not talking,
when you're not, you shoot off your mouth
and say stupid things.
In life, if you don't say stupid things,
you don't have any sins to atone for,
because the biggest sin of all
is taking someone's life,
because Jesus gave life,
so only He can take it.
But besides that,
you've got your tongue.
Our tongue goes on
at 1000 miles per hour, so...
The best thing in life is to keep
your peace, the law of silence.
If you don't talk,
nobody can scold or criticize you,
nobody can tell you anything,
no way, because you're quiet.
But if you start talking, you have to go
through the whole process.
He's taken off
his shirt now too.
So hot, so hot.
I even took a bath, it ain't easy.
What a hellhole
this place is, Pernambuco.
- We all gotta get out of here.
- Let's get some cold water.
This motorcycle
almost knocked me down.
I almost fell. Just look, it ain't even
got any front brakes, only in the back.
When I use the brakes,
it's like it wants to knock me down.
And I say, "Hey bike, how am I
supposed to get to work like this?"
Ahh, nice breeze there,
yes siree.
God bless, Jesus,
for this great day we're having here...
Hey man,
at least you've got a cold coke, cousin.
What, it ain't cold?
Leo has a 50cc motorcycle.
He wants to sell it to
fund his Carnival holidays.
Like everyone else in Toritama,
he wishes to spend this Carnival
by the seaside with his family.
You can move around and have a chat.
When it's picture time
everyone wants to be a model.
We return to Andr's faction.
There was a power outage
and everything came to a halt.
It's the only way they can chat.
And do you ever take time off?
Do you take vacations?
- Carnival, New Year's.
- And Sundays.
Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Does anyone stay during Carnival?
No. Everybody travels.
Here it feels like a cemetery.
They tell me a surprising fact:
Toritama becomes a ghost
town during Carnival.
Everyone heads to the beach,
leaving the city empty.
They sell anything to go to the beach.
Anything: furniture,
refrigerator, coffee machine.
Whatever they have!
Have you ever sold anything for Carnival?
No, thank God, no.
Even those without the money to travel
sell anything they can
and leave frantically
for Carnival at the beach.
I decide to stay and wait
for Carnival to arrive.
FOR SALE
No, but feel free to close the deal.
I'll pick it up today if you want
it, you understand?
In Dior's store, who sells
and resells sewing machines,
business skyrockets before Carnival.
It's pretty hilarious,
really, they'll sell anything.
Refrigerators, stoves,
drinking fountains,
tables, chairs, couches...
All sorts of stuff.
Why do they do it? Do they think
they could lose everything in a day?
No, that's not it.
I think they sort of get desperate.
Desperate for what?
They see everyone leaving...
Step up, my friend, please come in.
He isn't here yet.
But as soon as he is,
I'll make the arrangements
and let you know.
Thanks, pal. Great.
Why the desperation?
Because everyone's leaving or
because they work nonstop?
No, it's because they want
to have fun, go to the beach.
You know, 8 days, get out of the insane
rat race we have here.
I think that's why they do it.
Is your life here crazy?
Yeah. It can get crazy.
You can either turn off your phone
or go out of cell phone range.
If not, people will come knocking
on your door.
Has this ever affected your health?
- Yeah.
- What?
I got so stressed out once that I fainted.
ONE WEEK BEFORE CARNIVAL
CARNIVAL FLEA MARKE What did you come here for?
To sell that fridge.
- You think it'll sell?
- Sure.
- What if it doesn't?
- It will.
Everyone sells their
things, why can't I?
And so you'll sell it, then?
Yep.
How much are you asking?
50 USD, right?
What's the money for?
Going to the beach.
It'll sell. Lots of people come here to
sell things before Carnival.
Too bad I don't have
much cash on me,
because they're all dying to go
to the beach for Carnival.
After Carnival,
they come here to buy it back.
So I make a little money.
It's an opportunity.
They want to sell and I do too.
They sell and I buy,
then they get back to work,
and come here to buy it back
and then I sell it to them.
I'll sell for 75 USD.
Wanna buy?
75 USD.
50 USD.
I'll let you have it for 40 USD, look.
Come see the fridge!
How much?
50 USD.
But I will close for 40 USD.
Beautiful.
I didn't sell it,
but I'm going to borrow the money.
When I get back from the beach I'll pay.
Even if I have to turn to
a loan shark.
And at the flea market
we met Isabela.
With the economic crisis,
people are strapped for cash this year.
She lives in the Canaan district.
In the Bible,
Canaan is the promised land.
I'll pay interest,
but I will get the money.
Those guys have bought it.
They've sold it.
It's up for sale?
It's sold already,
they've come to deliver.
My fridge will stay on the sidewalk.
Whoever buys it can take it.
I just bought it.
Have you ever spent Carnival here?
Lots of times.
- And how did you feel?
- Me?
Sad, right?
Sad no, more like...
What do you call it?
Regret for not having gone,
of not having gone anywhere.
- And this year?
- This year?
I'm just going to sell my
refrigerator to get the money I need.
What do you do at the beach?
Go swimming, drink...
I don't drink anymore.
I used to drink a lot.
But now I just swim
and have fun, right?
And when you get back,
with no fridge?
I'll figure it out,
buy a used one at least.
At the barter market.
But is it worth it?
- Yeah.
- Why?
Gotta live for today.
Only God knows about tomorrow.
- That's true.
- It's only once a year.
I don't care if the food is chilled.
I want to have fun.
I could die tomorrow.
Yeah, nobody knows what's
gonna happen tomorrow.
What's that?
This here is to sell,
try to raise some money for Carnival.
How much you asking?
For 75 USD I'll sell it.
Is 75 USD enough for Carnival?
It'll do. Have some fun.
What about when you get back?
I'll work to buy another one.
The only way,
work to get another one.
And won't you miss the TV?
No way.
Just for a while, right?
Later we'll get another one.
- And is it worth it?
- Sure.
What's important is to have
a good time, enjoy life.
ONE DAY BEFORE CARNIVAL
He went to get the money.
Good trip.
Fasten your seatbelts!
Bye, see you on Maragogi Beach.
Leo did not manage to sell his motorcycle.
We strike a deal:
we help pay for his family's trip,
in exchange, they provide us
with footage of their Carnival.
We shot the days of work.
They shoot the days of leisure.
No sewing machine noise,
hardly any car noise
and few people on the streets.
Once the jeans production halts,
I see the Toritama I met 40 years ago.
Along with it,
comes the memory of the
trip I made with my father.
When we traveled the Agreste,
whenever we passed through
this town he used to say,
"In the Tupi language, the word
'Toritama' means 'land of happiness'."
WELCOME TO THE CAPITAL OF JEANS
Look at me!
That's Leo,
but he's too far away.
I got here on the beach early to fish
and I already got one here.
Is it beautiful or what?
I'm gonna take this one home to fry,
for us to eat.
- Who's hungry?
- Me!
I'll give it to the kids to eat.
Come over here.
Just hold it to see
how gosh darn pretty it is.
Can't get fish like this
back in Toritama.
Can you? Hold it, for you to see.
Get out of my way.
Good thing I'm short like Moiss,
short like Moiss.
Hey, I'm at the beach, see?
I'll be going to take a swim in a
while, you hear me?
Get ready for me!
Today's the day. The fisherman,
the sailor, the fisherman sailor.
Enjoying the beach?
Yep.
Is that so? Really?
That's right.
How long are you staying?
A little more.
Just a little?
Do you like sleeping in hammocks?
Not anymore.
But I used to like it.
- Did you?
- I did.
I once met a guy who was married,
but he only slept in a hammock.
That was his own business.
He had a single bed.
And I think he only used
the bed to make love
and used the hammock to sleep.
I always liked sleeping in hammocks
'cause the old folks tell tales
of spirits who come at midnight
to rock your hammock.
You sleep easier.
- Is that so?
- Sleep easier.
That's right.
Don't swing it.
I am enjoying filming you
in that hammock.
TORITAMA, 365 DAYS
BEFORE NEXT CARNIVAL
Toritama changes day by day.
Only the rain showers after
the carnival remain the same.
They announced the start
of planting season for farmers.
Nowadays, they announce the end
of vacations for self-employed workers,
who restart the jeans production cycle,
proud to be owners of their own time.
WAITING FOR THE CARNIVAL
Cachoeirinha, Caets, Caruaru,
Tacaimb, Taquaritinga,
Toritama.
These cities are in the Agreste,
a dry and poor region
of Northeastern Brazil.
My father was a tax inspector
in this region.
When I was a child,
he'd bring me along on his trips.
It was a rural world
with street markets,
corn and bean farmers,
and goatherds.
Hardly any sound of traffic
nor people walking
on the streets.
This is the Agreste
I keep in my childhood memories.
On the road connecting Caruaru
to Santa Cruz do Capibaribe,
gigantic billboards announce the arrival
to the small village of Toritama.
WELCOME TO THE CAPITAL OF JEANS
My reason for coming here
is quite different from my father's.
As far as I remember,
Toritama had a different pace.
At 8 AM you could hardly see
any activity on the streets.
The urban landscape has changed.
Jeans factories have been built
in the large empty lots.
And most of the houses have become
small backyard workshops
called "factions".
What time do you start to work?
5, 6 AM.
Then I work until 9 or 10 PM.
I'm at home, right?
- You don't get tired?
- No.
I take a shower and lie down.
Watch a bit of TV and
wake up ready for another day.
Sunday to Sunday?
When there's work to be done, I like it.
The more I work,
the more money I make.
This is my son-in-law.
He's your son-in-law?
He's in the family to stay.
- He's an eager beaver.
- What do you mean?
He's a hard worker,
he knows the ropes.
This is what we call
Toritama gold.
Blue jeans, blue gold.
The factions belong to people
who built their own business?
That's right.
I worked for 7 years
in a factory.
Then the boss went broke
all of a sudden.
We all went our separate ways.
Then I bought my first machine,
others did the same.
Today, each of us has their own machine.
Their own faction.
You wouldn't go back?
No. It's fine this way.
We each have our own machine.
It works out.
He's taking over the interview.
No problem.
Didn't you ask him to be here?
Are we done?
We're done.
You keep butting into her interview.
He says you're butting in.
I saw she was having trouble
expressing herself.
Is it bad? You can cut it all.
- He just butts into everything.
- It's because he's smart.
Is it good or bad?
You want us to interview you instead.
You want to be the star of the film.
I don't know, you're the boss.
It's just that she was having
a hard time expressing herself
about the jeans,
how it all began.
She's a pioneer,
she used to make these small boxes.
You should have told them
all about your life.
Let me explain: I began assembling,
these boxes when I was 12.
Why'd you say
your boss went bankrupt?
I said that I worked in a factory
for 7 years, right?
The factory went bust
and we all went our separate ways
and bought their own machines
and have their own businesses.
We can't just omit things, right?
We have to tell the truth.
Lunchtime is the only moment of silence
in Toritama.
I remember that silence well.
It lasted all day long.
I hear music
coming from inside a faction.
It is a rap song saying:
"I dreamed that I was rich."
I don't want to talk.
I'm too "ashamed".
I can't speak just like this.
Tell me about your work.
I do a bit of everything.
Knead glue, turn pieces inside out,
stitch them up with the kids.
Do you like to wear jeans?
I love it.
I like them. People look better,
more elegant.
We listen mostly to funk,
rap, reggae.
I'm a father.
My daughter's name is Julia Beatriz.
- How old is she?
- She's 6, 7 months old.
- How about you?
- I'm 19.
Becoming a father at 19, 20 years old
is a trend here in Toritama.
I have a family but I'm single.
I mean, the trend is having kids,
not getting married.
You get the job done, right?
- I did 1200 pieces myself yesterday.
- Really? Is that true?
It's true.
Each one of us makes around
1000, 1500 pieces each.
Do they get the job done?
Yeah. They might look skinny,
they might be ugly,
but they're very professional.
You just gonna sit there?
If I can't find it in me to get up,
I won't.
My oh my oh my...
So the work is too much for you.
You just lie around. Right?
They caught me taking a nap.
Darn it...
- You screwed up.
- How do you like that?
Oh, boy!
I got caught in the act.
Can you believe it? Snoozing.
Does this guy work or just sleep?
- No, he works hard.
- Really?
He's a hard worker.
People come looking to hire him.
Come looking for him to sleep or work?
To work, for sure.
Oh boy, I am telling you
that my name is "work"
and my nickname is "overtime".
What more do you need to say?
Here you get paid
for the work you do.
The harder you push yourself,
the more money you make.
You keep to your work,
and don't waste time chatting.
It's all about production here.
Listen, you've got a right
to try out all the jobs in the world,
but you gotta pick one.
Listen up, there's a lot
of different professions,
which you probably know
better than I do,
because I'm young, in my prime,
starting life now...
And when you're 32
all you can do is pray to make it to 80.
I mean, it's up to God,
you could die at any moment.
But of all the jobs in the world,
you gotta pick one.
What's the best job in the world?
Not working for anybody.
Being your own boss.
Making an honest living, with dignity,
answering to no one,
And it's really nice to be able
to lie back and sleep, like I did...
Sleeping so peacefully...
I'd have slept some more.
We're our own bosses here.
We set our own hours.
If we had a boss,
we'd have fixed working hours.
We come in at 7 AM,
stay until 8:30 AM,
go home for breakfast,
then come back
and stay until 11:30 AM.
Then we go home, have lunch
and come back at 1:30 PM.
When it's 6:30...
- 6:30 when?
- In the evening.
We go back home at 6:30 PM,
for dinner,
and then around 7:30 PM,
we come back and stay until 10:00 PM.
And when you get back home?
Take a bath and fall exhausted into bed.
It's tiring, but we earn more, right?
We earn more.
This is the house that served as lodging
for civil servants
who were passing through the region.
The large room contained
only beds and mattresses.
I try to recognize the place,
but nothing seems the same.
The lodge was made into
a backyard factory,
like so many other houses here.
Here you work with production, right?
Yes.
Explain how that works.
What do you do here?
Well, if you make 100 pocket openings,
at 0.025 USD apiece,
you earn 2.50 USD.
If you make 1000 pocket openings
in one day, you earn 25 USD.
If you make a fly, the part that covers
the zipper, it's 0.05 USD.
You make 1000 a day,
you earn 50 USD.
Depends on your production.
No matter if it's sewing
or anything else.
I think that today it's much better
to work for yourself.
Our life here isn't bad, not at all.
If anyone thinks it is, they're wrong.
Not everybody has the privilege
of being healthy, having work,
making a living, having food on the table
when the weekend comes.
There's a lot of people,
I see on TV, in Africa, dying of hunger,
countries at war,
and thank God we don't have
any of that in Toritama.
So is this a bad life?
No way. It's dying that's bad.
Do you want more juice?
Hey, Antonio.
Go play in another sector.
Don't go there.
Go play in another sector.
Come on, get going.
Go play inside with Maisa, go on.
Go on home, Arthur, will you?
If you don't,
I won't give you the phone.
Come on!
I'm giving you the phone, so get out.
Toritama was like a mother to me.
Anybody who badmouths Toritama
is not blessed by God.
If you come here with an empty stomach,
you leave fat, like me.
It's a good place to work.
We have lots of people
from other cities.
It's like So Paulo now,
everybody used to go to So Paulo
to work, right?
But it wasn't easy there.
You had to have education.
But not here. For example,
even if you're a nobody when you get here,
you might not know anything,
but you'll find work in Toritama for sure.
Get out of the way, Arthur.
No... I go when I can,
when I can't I just stay here.
Do you need to go out of town
to have fun?
You have to go out of town
if you want to eat out,
if you want to swim in a pool...
There's nothing here in Toritama.
It's all about work.
I started to cut sugarcane
at the age of 13.
I made 3, 4 USD a week.
Then I adapted little by little...
Like I said, cutting sugarcane is a job
where no one tells you what to do.
So that's a good thing in life.
Sometimes, I do dirt work
for house-building,
or I cut down a coconut tree,
a mango tree.
I am sought after in my region
to cut down trees.
Because if I don't,
someone else will.
But I don't like
chopping them down.
The other day I had to chop
a coconut tree.
I climbed up the coconut tree,
chopped off all its branches.
The owner gave me 12 USD.
When I was about to chop it
in three parts,
a guy with a chainsaw arrived
and said,
"So, how much to help you
cut the coconut tree?"
I say, "Man, I'm already here
to earn some spare change."
He said, "At least help me
make some money for gas."
I offered 2.50 USD, as I'd already
done the worst part. He said yes.
And he cut it down in a jiffy
with his chainsaw. But I got sad.
No money in the world
is worth cutting down a fruit tree!
Money is the world's undoing.
Everybody knows that.
No money, no evil.
So money creates evil. Why?
Lots of people got the guts
to work for money,
others are cowards, dodgy.
This capitalism everyone talks about,
though each person has their own opinion,
but in capitalism, money talks loud.
so it's pretty complicated
in this world.
Some are born into money,
others with nothing
and so they are screwed.
As the Lord said,
"Many... but few..."
One day they stole
my little piggy bank.
And I thought to myself,
"I'm here feeding the little porker
and they go and steal it,
how low can you stoop?"
What was the hardest job you ever had?
Pulling out tree stumps, no doubt.
Oh my God...
Took me a whole day
to pull out one.
And I didn't pull it out.
I had to cut it up.
I cut it up,
I didn't pull it out.
But no job in the world is worse
than pulling out tree stumps.
It takes you a whole day
to yank one and you don't even get it out.
Cutting sugarcane,
loading trucks...
Digging holes, making jeans...
Is making jeans hard?
No, it's not.
I decide to mute the sound.
The deafening racket of the
machinery makes me anxious.
Now it's the repetitive
motion that disturbs me.
I put on a soundtrack.
The hands dance in a ballet,
following the rhythm.
I try another angle.
The distress caused by
the repetition remains.
My father was a tax inspector.
Today, I feel like an inspector
of other people's time.
I am overwhelmed
by the memory of my father
and by the anguish
of this repetition.
People's time filled by endless work.
I try to escape
from this hectic rhythm.
I decide to roam
the rural area of the city
in search of landscapes
I remember from my childhood.
There, I meet Mr. Joo.
He's the only one in Toritama
who still has time to look up at the sky.
And wait for the rain to come.
It goes from there to there.
Sometimes it's more to this side.
Year in and year out,
what doesn't change in Toritama is that
it always rains after the Carnival.
It might be over there, but nobody
can see clearly behind that veil.
Doesn't the rain cloud create that veil?
Right?
So then, when it moves over
in this direction, like this,
I can see the rain from here.
It has barely any wind.
If the cloud goes like this,
the wind is pulling the rain
that way.
If it does this,
the wind is pulling it this other way.
Just like kicking someone's legs out.
He'll fall this way, right?
Kick with your other foot,
he'll fall this other way.
I have that experience as well,
thank God.
Dona Adalgisa Bezerra was born
and raised in the rural area of Toritama.
She remembers all the people
that walked through her front door.
Your mother was dating
your father,
they'd come by here together.
I was a little girl
and I remember.
It is scary how kids remember things.
Cleusa, when she was younger,
she'd say,
"I have faith in God
that I won't die here in Pernambuco.
I want to die in So Paulo."
She'd say that.
She moved to So Paulo,
spent the longest time there.
Then she came back and died here.
Only God knows our fate.
Everyone here but you makes jeans.
Don't you make jeans as well?
Not me. Heaven forbid!
I'm a farmer.
In Ms. Rosilda Maria's farm,
chicken breeding
has been replaced
by sewing machines.
The chicken coop is now used
to store fabric
and a single pet chicken remains there.
Her name is Sara Jane.
The countryside is taken
over by a new realm.
An industrial world in expansion.
- And what are you doing here?
- Shorts.
We get the shorts like this,
work on them and make this model here.
And then there's the pants too.
These here, nothing on them,
and he's already
working on them there.
You might've seen girls
wearing these,
with holes in them,
the kind I'm making here.
Tell me, is it better working here
than in a factory?
Let me tell you,
I make more here than in a factory.
In a regular job, rain or shine,
your salary is the same.
Here, how much we make is up to us.
I could make 375 USD a week,
or even more.
Depends on how much I work.
But, on the other hand,
we don't have labor rights, understand?
So it's good on the one hand,
but not on the other.
It's nice to have money, sure,
but if you start getting greedy,
you lose sight of all the rest,
just the money.
I think different,
I think about my future.
Tomorrow, you understand?
What's the use
of piling up money
and then when I get old,
what'll I do with it all?
At least, when I get older,
I can retire, understand?
I'll have paid my share of social security.
But he thinks different, he's young,
I respect his opinion.
Toritama continues to expand.
In any empty lot, new houses are built.
They will serve as new factions.
Leo is helping build a house for Josivaldo.
The neighborhood already has a name:
New Coconut Drive.
Despite the name,
there are no coconut trees in sight.
A place where it doesn't rain
but the grass is green: Toritama.
As payment, Leo will be guaranteed
a job in Josivaldo's faction.
He will have more autonomy
and more flexible work hours.
The bricks fell over.
They'll hold together,
they just need some mortar.
I like to take the shovel and do this.
I sold so much sand in this world
that I'm like a sand slinger.
Oh my Jesus...
Canario is the only
goatherd in these parts.
The lack of rain makes him walk for miles
to find pasture for the goats.
Crossing the highway
is the riskiest moment of the journey.
He's already lost some
animals while crossing.
It's so hot that even the goats seek shade.
Canario gives each goat a name
and knows them all by heart.
Quiet, Bela!
OK, Bela. Come on.
Come on, Big Ear.
Hey. This way.
Oh, you bastard.
In the old times
we lived on farming,
cattle, sheep, goats,
but then after jeans came,
everything changed.
Today people invest their time
in making a lot of money.
I have no illusions about making money.
My illusion is... working
with things I like.
Making money just to humiliate people...
I don't like making money
to humiliate anybody.
I like to keep the things
I love doing.
And rich folk,
they're all greedy.
All they want is to make
more and more.
They even forget about God,
because God for them is money.
There's this one buddy of mine,
god is money for him.
I joke with him, "It can't be like
that, we have to do what we like."
You can't just go chasing money, money,
money, until we're all used up...
Money won't get anybody anywhere.
Come forward to hold them.
Easy. Do it slowly.
There's no rush.
Come on. Do it slowly, there's no rush.
Hey, Edilson, see if any have crossed.
What I remember most
about the Agreste
is a quick sunset,
covering it all with melancholy.
The night came, with its mysteries.
And on the radio, at 6 PM,
everyone listened to The Angelus.
During my childhood, the sidewalk was
where people sat in rocking chairs
waiting for time to go by.
In Toritama, the sidewalk is a place
where time is spent working.
Stop that!
Those who aren't in factories or factions
spend time on the sidewalk
cleaning stray threads.
It is the last stage of the process.
On the sidewalks of Toritama,
we met "Gold Man".
He spends most of his time standing there.
He produces exclusive items
for clients who like what he wears.
The name of his brand is Star Jeans.
I decided to shoot "Gold Man"
the way he likes to be seen:
modeling his own creations.
Ask away, and I'll answer.
Go on.
What about your clothes?
You always dress like this?
My style is different.
And there's something else:
I add this detail here.
I come up with the idea
and wear it, for people to see.
And then I make it for other people
because they ask me to.
And I make it for them.
Because they see me wearing it.
I am an advert.
Clothes have to have details,
if not, they won't sell.
They might sell, but not much.
That's what clothes
are all about.
I have blue, red, yellow jeans...
All types.
Blue here, white, two colors,
I come up with them.
I know how to wash.
I take my things to the laundry
and wash them differently
for me to use, you get me?
But I don't work that much,
the boys do.
I don't work much.
Having a drink is my thing.
I love me some luxury.
Here's 175 USD.
Can you put this in the car, Edson, please?
Gisele owns a jeans brand and is in charge
of the entire production process.
She spends most of her time in her
car, which is her office.
Good afternoon.
Has anybody seen Severino?
Thank you.
- This one here is a prototype.
- Right.
You're going to do something...
- This here is Lycra, Severino.
- Right.
No need to overdo it,
you know, right,
you can't do much on Lycra,
but do something pretty.
You want a designer piece, pretty.
And this one here?
That's Lycra too,
see what you can do with it.
This one is 100% cotton.
You want me to use the laser on it?
I think on this one, Severino.
This one will work.
Want to try the laser on it now?
Let's do a test.
I've learned how to get
the distressed look on the machine,
I only knew about doing that
with the handheld machine.
And then I saw the piece catching fire.
I thought, "Man, it's burning."
When I started working here,
all we had was that small machine,
and I was already,
"Man, look at what it can do!"
And now I'm working
on a big machine like this one.
It's great.
Robson, what's your dream?
My dream?
Getting rich,
like everybody else.
In Toritama,
Sunday is not a day of rest.
There's a street market.
That's where
the factions' weekly production is sold.
It's all or nothing.
TV?
We're on camera.
Not so fast, son.
People get excited about our arrival.
They think we're from a local network
to publicize the market.
Watch out!
I explain that we are doing a film
about labor to be shown in theaters,
but nobody gets excited
about that.
Come get your shorts.
White Bermuda shorts, just out.
The documentary's camera is watching you!
Special offers today!
She'll have a little trouble
putting it on, with her big butt.
- Oh, really?
- Yep.
Look here, these shorts
are on my blog.
Today's fashion.
For men, sizes 36 through 50.
These are distressed jeans,
they show some skin...
I like them,
because you show the lining,
and then the leg.
This one here is a big seller.
Everyone's gotta have a pair.
It shows the knees.
And here we have a skirt,
for secretaries, and for Evangelicals.
Well made, with lots of details, so...
How much does it cost? 6 USD?
It's worth it because of all the details,
with the slit in the back
to give you more room,
making it easier for girls to walk,
go about their days, not just in church,
but in everyday life.
Who does the creative work?
I think it's every salesman,
the owners of the brands.
They get an idea,
make the model, create it,
the stylist draws it up
and then it hits production,
ready to be sold all over Brazil,
and even abroad, right?
So that's why the city is known
as the jeans capital.
Cut!
Brazil begins here!
Buying any product from our stand
you'll get a discount...
Don't miss these discounts
in the jeans capital!
Step right up and take a look
at our discount prices!
It's all here!
Here in Toritama, Pernambuco.
Toritama is the jeans capital.
Step right up,
I'm slashing prices.
A city with 40,000 inhabitants,
that corresponds to the production
of 20% of all jeans made in Brazil.
That means that we make
20 million items a year.
My voice is gone.
Because when I get ready
on Sunday
to come to the store
and see the crowds of people,
all coming to buy,
I get real excited.
Don't you do some things
for the pleasure,
for the joy of it?
Well, that's what I do.
I always say I'm not a salesman,
I'm a friend to all salesmen,
because clients start here,
but they're the ones who make
really good sales,
and then they come back,
it's great!
Come on in and take a look.
Prices start at 3 USD.
Jeans are our main product
in Toritama.
If jeans disappeared,
99% of Toritama would disappear too.
For newcomers this place is dynamite.
We only leave here at 6 AM.
We start packing
up at around 5 AM,
but some will stay until 2 PM.
The park nearby closes at 3 PM.
But business is slow at this time?
It's already slowed down.
We stick around
just to say we're open.
Good time to take a little nap.
My dream is to keep working.
My dream is to see my business grow.
To have a comfortable house,
not a luxurious one.
I have dreams, but none of them
come to mind right now.
Dream in which sense?
If I have a dream in life?
To have my family by my side.
My dream today is to have a house.
I move my feet in my sleep.
I dream that I'm working.
For us who work with jeans,
the dream is to get to the top,
have your own business,
own the fabrics.
It's not possible for me
to be a millionaire.
Have a home, live happier,
raise my children,
leave a mark.
I dream about a personal life,
out there.
The best adventure
in the whole world is the sea,
because the sea never ends,
everyone knows that.
The end of the sea is the sky.
Some guy says, "You talk a lot
for a know-nothing,"
but only God knows my heart
and my mind, so...
Once I asked God to make me a prophet.
Because being a prophet isn't...
it's not just saying,
"I'm a prophet."
I would like to be someone
who could cure other people,
If somebody came up to my door
and I could help them.
But then, on the other hand,
you've got cachaa.
I like to drink,
so it's no use going to church
and then when the brother says,
"Do you accept the Word?"
I redeem myself,
but tomorrow I sin again.
I don't have the right "disciplination",
I'm not prepared for the occasion.
So let me be the way God made me
and I'll go on just like the sea,
like the wind, here and there.
Just yesterday I had a couple drinks.
But my problem ain't the
booze, it's working.
Everything in life is work.
"Too many words,
too many sins."
What's best in life is the law of silence.
When you're working
you're not talking,
when you're not, you shoot off your mouth
and say stupid things.
In life, if you don't say stupid things,
you don't have any sins to atone for,
because the biggest sin of all
is taking someone's life,
because Jesus gave life,
so only He can take it.
But besides that,
you've got your tongue.
Our tongue goes on
at 1000 miles per hour, so...
The best thing in life is to keep
your peace, the law of silence.
If you don't talk,
nobody can scold or criticize you,
nobody can tell you anything,
no way, because you're quiet.
But if you start talking, you have to go
through the whole process.
He's taken off
his shirt now too.
So hot, so hot.
I even took a bath, it ain't easy.
What a hellhole
this place is, Pernambuco.
- We all gotta get out of here.
- Let's get some cold water.
This motorcycle
almost knocked me down.
I almost fell. Just look, it ain't even
got any front brakes, only in the back.
When I use the brakes,
it's like it wants to knock me down.
And I say, "Hey bike, how am I
supposed to get to work like this?"
Ahh, nice breeze there,
yes siree.
God bless, Jesus,
for this great day we're having here...
Hey man,
at least you've got a cold coke, cousin.
What, it ain't cold?
Leo has a 50cc motorcycle.
He wants to sell it to
fund his Carnival holidays.
Like everyone else in Toritama,
he wishes to spend this Carnival
by the seaside with his family.
You can move around and have a chat.
When it's picture time
everyone wants to be a model.
We return to Andr's faction.
There was a power outage
and everything came to a halt.
It's the only way they can chat.
And do you ever take time off?
Do you take vacations?
- Carnival, New Year's.
- And Sundays.
Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Does anyone stay during Carnival?
No. Everybody travels.
Here it feels like a cemetery.
They tell me a surprising fact:
Toritama becomes a ghost
town during Carnival.
Everyone heads to the beach,
leaving the city empty.
They sell anything to go to the beach.
Anything: furniture,
refrigerator, coffee machine.
Whatever they have!
Have you ever sold anything for Carnival?
No, thank God, no.
Even those without the money to travel
sell anything they can
and leave frantically
for Carnival at the beach.
I decide to stay and wait
for Carnival to arrive.
FOR SALE
No, but feel free to close the deal.
I'll pick it up today if you want
it, you understand?
In Dior's store, who sells
and resells sewing machines,
business skyrockets before Carnival.
It's pretty hilarious,
really, they'll sell anything.
Refrigerators, stoves,
drinking fountains,
tables, chairs, couches...
All sorts of stuff.
Why do they do it? Do they think
they could lose everything in a day?
No, that's not it.
I think they sort of get desperate.
Desperate for what?
They see everyone leaving...
Step up, my friend, please come in.
He isn't here yet.
But as soon as he is,
I'll make the arrangements
and let you know.
Thanks, pal. Great.
Why the desperation?
Because everyone's leaving or
because they work nonstop?
No, it's because they want
to have fun, go to the beach.
You know, 8 days, get out of the insane
rat race we have here.
I think that's why they do it.
Is your life here crazy?
Yeah. It can get crazy.
You can either turn off your phone
or go out of cell phone range.
If not, people will come knocking
on your door.
Has this ever affected your health?
- Yeah.
- What?
I got so stressed out once that I fainted.
ONE WEEK BEFORE CARNIVAL
CARNIVAL FLEA MARKE What did you come here for?
To sell that fridge.
- You think it'll sell?
- Sure.
- What if it doesn't?
- It will.
Everyone sells their
things, why can't I?
And so you'll sell it, then?
Yep.
How much are you asking?
50 USD, right?
What's the money for?
Going to the beach.
It'll sell. Lots of people come here to
sell things before Carnival.
Too bad I don't have
much cash on me,
because they're all dying to go
to the beach for Carnival.
After Carnival,
they come here to buy it back.
So I make a little money.
It's an opportunity.
They want to sell and I do too.
They sell and I buy,
then they get back to work,
and come here to buy it back
and then I sell it to them.
I'll sell for 75 USD.
Wanna buy?
75 USD.
50 USD.
I'll let you have it for 40 USD, look.
Come see the fridge!
How much?
50 USD.
But I will close for 40 USD.
Beautiful.
I didn't sell it,
but I'm going to borrow the money.
When I get back from the beach I'll pay.
Even if I have to turn to
a loan shark.
And at the flea market
we met Isabela.
With the economic crisis,
people are strapped for cash this year.
She lives in the Canaan district.
In the Bible,
Canaan is the promised land.
I'll pay interest,
but I will get the money.
Those guys have bought it.
They've sold it.
It's up for sale?
It's sold already,
they've come to deliver.
My fridge will stay on the sidewalk.
Whoever buys it can take it.
I just bought it.
Have you ever spent Carnival here?
Lots of times.
- And how did you feel?
- Me?
Sad, right?
Sad no, more like...
What do you call it?
Regret for not having gone,
of not having gone anywhere.
- And this year?
- This year?
I'm just going to sell my
refrigerator to get the money I need.
What do you do at the beach?
Go swimming, drink...
I don't drink anymore.
I used to drink a lot.
But now I just swim
and have fun, right?
And when you get back,
with no fridge?
I'll figure it out,
buy a used one at least.
At the barter market.
But is it worth it?
- Yeah.
- Why?
Gotta live for today.
Only God knows about tomorrow.
- That's true.
- It's only once a year.
I don't care if the food is chilled.
I want to have fun.
I could die tomorrow.
Yeah, nobody knows what's
gonna happen tomorrow.
What's that?
This here is to sell,
try to raise some money for Carnival.
How much you asking?
For 75 USD I'll sell it.
Is 75 USD enough for Carnival?
It'll do. Have some fun.
What about when you get back?
I'll work to buy another one.
The only way,
work to get another one.
And won't you miss the TV?
No way.
Just for a while, right?
Later we'll get another one.
- And is it worth it?
- Sure.
What's important is to have
a good time, enjoy life.
ONE DAY BEFORE CARNIVAL
He went to get the money.
Good trip.
Fasten your seatbelts!
Bye, see you on Maragogi Beach.
Leo did not manage to sell his motorcycle.
We strike a deal:
we help pay for his family's trip,
in exchange, they provide us
with footage of their Carnival.
We shot the days of work.
They shoot the days of leisure.
No sewing machine noise,
hardly any car noise
and few people on the streets.
Once the jeans production halts,
I see the Toritama I met 40 years ago.
Along with it,
comes the memory of the
trip I made with my father.
When we traveled the Agreste,
whenever we passed through
this town he used to say,
"In the Tupi language, the word
'Toritama' means 'land of happiness'."
WELCOME TO THE CAPITAL OF JEANS
Look at me!
That's Leo,
but he's too far away.
I got here on the beach early to fish
and I already got one here.
Is it beautiful or what?
I'm gonna take this one home to fry,
for us to eat.
- Who's hungry?
- Me!
I'll give it to the kids to eat.
Come over here.
Just hold it to see
how gosh darn pretty it is.
Can't get fish like this
back in Toritama.
Can you? Hold it, for you to see.
Get out of my way.
Good thing I'm short like Moiss,
short like Moiss.
Hey, I'm at the beach, see?
I'll be going to take a swim in a
while, you hear me?
Get ready for me!
Today's the day. The fisherman,
the sailor, the fisherman sailor.
Enjoying the beach?
Yep.
Is that so? Really?
That's right.
How long are you staying?
A little more.
Just a little?
Do you like sleeping in hammocks?
Not anymore.
But I used to like it.
- Did you?
- I did.
I once met a guy who was married,
but he only slept in a hammock.
That was his own business.
He had a single bed.
And I think he only used
the bed to make love
and used the hammock to sleep.
I always liked sleeping in hammocks
'cause the old folks tell tales
of spirits who come at midnight
to rock your hammock.
You sleep easier.
- Is that so?
- Sleep easier.
That's right.
Don't swing it.
I am enjoying filming you
in that hammock.
TORITAMA, 365 DAYS
BEFORE NEXT CARNIVAL
Toritama changes day by day.
Only the rain showers after
the carnival remain the same.
They announced the start
of planting season for farmers.
Nowadays, they announce the end
of vacations for self-employed workers,
who restart the jeans production cycle,
proud to be owners of their own time.
WAITING FOR THE CARNIVAL