“Pages of a Girl” is the first short movie written and directed by the production designer Monica Palazzo. The movie tells the story of a girl, Ingrid (Tieza Tissi) who loves books and starts to work in the book shop where she meets Silvia (Vera Zimmermann) an elegant and mature woman, manager in the shop. They develop affection for each other after their intellectual encounter, and this will define many of there future choices.
The movie brings the experienced actress Vera Zimmermann in a daring role, exploring the female homosexuality. “I wrote it thinking of her (Vera) and one day, a friend in common introduced us and I invited her. I sent the script and was really surprised when she accepted it.”
Produced by Filmes de Abril, a cultural and cinema production company set in Sao Paulo, the short movie was entirely filmed in locations found in the cities of Araraquara and Sao Carlos. The story is set in Araraquara in the 50’s and the locations required masking everything that did not belong to that certain time. To overcome that Renata Rugai, the art director, had to make a detailed plan. The greatest challenge was to build the bookshop, the main setting. There were pounds and pounds of books and all the shelves were specially made for the movie “one of them had wheels so we could easily relocate it around the shop”, says Renata.” We started to work two months earlier on the streets we would use. The façade for the bookshop was entirely remolded, painted and had a wall put down to suit the visual requirements.
All the effort for creating the adequate look was highlighted by Janice D'Ávila’s cinematography. "It was great to make the movie because, even though it was Monica’s first movie as a director, she really could express what she wanted and, at the same time she managed to give the crew freedom to create and add artistically to the movie.
The executive producer, Karina Zimmer started the run two months earlier, contacting local entrepreneurs for partnerships and support. She had also the responsibilities of production director, preparing the town for the 42 professionals who would work in the set.
But the movie intends to be also in NGOs and organized groups that want to use it as starting points for educational activities about gender and sexuality. “A movie can help people notice the different realities and it gets easier to discuss certain situations when they are presented on screen. Thanks to cinema that brings so much truth to the spectators. We are still short in movies to help the work, especially when it comes to women’s sexuality, which is still taboo for many, and I hope this movie can help us change this reality”, say Margarita Diaz, who works at the NGO Reprolatina and is already preparing educational material to be distributed in every exhibition of Pages of a Girl.
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