Gugu´s World

Allan
Deberton

(1982, Brazil)
 Selected filmography: Arthur’s Eyes (Os Olhos de Arthur, 2015), Baião for Two (Baião de Dois, 2018), Pacarrete (2019), The Best Friend (O Melhor Amigo, 2024)

Twelve-year-old Gugu dreams of becoming a footballer. He grows up with his beloved grandmother Dilma, who offers him a safe space where he can be himself. In a small community by the Araújo Lima dam, whose receding waters reveal the traces of a long-submerged town, they share a quiet but strong bond. But as old memories resurface, their fragile balance begins to falter. As Dilma grows weaker, Gugu realizes he may lose the only place where he feels at home. Trying to hold their world together, he faces fears beyond his years. This sensitive story of growing up, acceptance, and family unfolds against a changing landscape that, like its characters, reveals hidden layers of the past. The film was presented in the Generation section at the Berlin International Film Festival. It is a gentle, moving story of loss and hope, and of the importance of having a place to belong.