The First Death of Joana

Late summer of 2007, South of Brazil. Joana, 13, wants to find out why her great-aunt Rosa died at 70 without ever having dated anyone. Encouraged by her friend Carolina, Joana starts an investigation about Rosa’s past. As she confronts the values of her community, Joana realizes that all the women in her family have a secret, while something hidden inside her also reveals. She plunges into her imagination to find answers while a large wind power plant is being built in their small town… Cristiane Oliveira gives us a sensitive and frank exploration of hidden loves and changing views of gender roles and sexuality, in a film that delves deeply the female, the desire, the repression inside a patriarchal social structure. A very beautiful film shaped with fierce poetry