Ave Maria ou Mãe dos Sertanejos(2009)

The Governor of Pernambuco, Sérgio Loreto, and politicians from his cabinet pose for the camera. The celebrations of the Centennial of the Confederation of the Equator included a Public Force parade (Infantry, Cavalry, and Fire Brigade), an open-air Mass celebrated by Archbishop Dom Miguel Valverde, and the laying of the foundation stone of the Palace of Justice.

Dirlinho and his cousin’s childhood is marked by deprivation and violence. They try to escape by working as jockeys. While the punters bet on them, they gamble with their lives for a better future by riding doped horses.

Pelé, a retired nurse, revisits his memories as a performer in the Boi Tira-Teima group from Caruaru, Pernambuco. Between longing for the past and the impossibility of celebrating Carnival in the present, he imagines what it would be like to return to Carnival one last time.