Private Desert

Brazil, 120m, DCP

Showtimes & Tickets

Screened August 26–September 8, 2022

Sara is a genderfluid blue-collar worker who lives as her male birth identity Robson by day while caring for her religious grandmother in a small town in the northeast of Brazil. Daniel, who teaches in a police academy in southern metropolis Curitiba, has been placed on unpaid leave after a violent incident that’s all over the news. The only thing holding him together is his online romance with Sara, whom he has never met in person. When she suddenly disappears, Daniel drives 2,000 miles across Brazil to find her. What follows is a journey of the heart; both a swooning sun-baked romance and a triumphant affirmation of queer love and humanity at a time when LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly imperiled everywhere. A Kino Lorber release

In Portuguese with English subtitles

Official Selection: Venice Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Göteborg Film Festival, BFI Flare London LGBTQ+ Film Festival

Brazil’s Official Submission to the 94th Academy Awards

A film by Aly Muritiba

Achingly beautiful and incredibly erotic.”

Manuel Betancourt, Variety