Two kids fighting outside the window

Freely inspired by the work Catatau, by Paulo Leminski, the plot begins with the historical hypothesis imagined by the poet from Curitiba: “What if René Descartes had come to Brazil with Maurício de Nassau?” The film materializes this hypothesis and joins the father of modern philosophy in his journey through the tropics. Under the effect of hallucinatory herbs, he investigates questions revolving around geometry and optics in the face of an absolutely strange world. Known for his famous sentence “I think, therefore I am”, Descartes faces his doubt towards phenomena reason doesn’t explain. René, Renatus, Re born.

On the tranquil island of Paquetá, in Guanabara Bay, northwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro, someone is relaxing on the shore beside the rocks. Intimate telephone conversations contrast against news reports about the war in Ukraine, which is taking place simultaneously on a different plane.

On the tranquil island of Paquetá, in Guanabara Bay, northwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro, someone is relaxing on the shore beside the rocks. Intimate telephone conversations contrast against news reports about the war in Ukraine, which is taking place simultaneously on a different plane. Between the lines, director Cao Guimarães weaves the story of a Japanese kamikaze pilot during the Second World War. His camera often turns to the nature of Paquetá: wind blowing through a treetop, a flock of birds skimming over the water, a colony of great egrets crossing a street. As in his previous work, Guimarães finds a casual poetry in the details in this short documentary. Yet there is also a bitter note to Tokkotai Paquetá: however peaceful the island may be, every now and then the war, like a seal, raises its head above the surface.

Three lonely drifters follow different paths on the roads of northeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil. A film about the connections between walking and thinking, in which the ever-changing nature of things turns life into a place of mere passing.