SFFILM Festival Encore: Heartless

2024 SFFILM Festival Encore at The Roxie

In this drama inspired by co-director Nara Normande’s own life, teenage Tamara spends the summer of 1996 hanging with her group of friends before leaving them behind to study in Brasilia. While restlessly exploring her village on Brazil’s northwest coast, Tamara’s relationships begin to shift. She grows apart from her boyfriend Kinzão while developing an attraction for another girl, nicknamed “Heartless” for the surgical scar on her chest. Dazzling images illustrate this magical realist coming-of-age tale that touches on a young woman’s blossoming sexuality and anxious anticipation of the future. Normande and her co-director Tião elegantly weave poetic sentiments with fantastical elements to spin a strikingly poignant story of the connection between nature, sexuality, and growing up.

Director Nara Normande

A native of Guaxuma, Brazil, who later relocated to Recife, Nara Normande made several prize-winning shorts before making her feature debut with Heartless, including Dia Estrelado (2011) and Guaxuma (2018). She is co-creator of Mia, A Filosofinha, an animated children’s series currently in development.

Director Tião

Among Tião’s short films are Muro (2008), winner of the Un Regard Neuf short film award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Heartless (2014), co-directed with Nara Normande, which received Cannes’ Illy Prize. His first feature was Animal Politíco (2016).

Film Details