Estomago - A Gastronomic Story (2007)

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Estomago - A Gastronomic Story (2007)

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“ESTÔMAGO – A Gastronomic Story” is the story of the rise and fall of Raimundo Nonato, a cook with very special talents. It deals with two universal themes: food and power. But more specifically, food as means of acquiring power. It can be defined as “grown-up fable of power, sex and cooking.”

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Estomago - A Gastronomic Story (2007)

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ESTÔMAGO was the big winner in its world premiere at the 2007 Rio Film Festival, receiving four awards: Best Film (Audience Choice), Best Director, Best Actor and the Jury’s Special Award. In its European premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, it won the Lions Award and the audience’s second choice out of 200 films. In Berlin’s 2008 festival, the film screening offered a special dinner, inspired by dishes prepared in the film. In Uruguay at the Punta del Este International Festival, ESTÔMAGO took the awards for Best Film and Special Mention for Best Actor.

The film marks director Marcos Jorge’s debut in feature length movies, after a successful career as director of shorts, commercials and as an artist specialized in video-installations. Marcos Jorge studied cinema in Italy and lived there throughout the 90s. His films and videos have won over 50 national and international awards.

The film was shot over five weeks in Curitiba and Sao Paulo at the end of 2006. It was finalized in Milan and Rome, Italy in mid-2007. ESTÔMAGO is the first film produced under a bilateral co-production agreement between Brazil-Italy since the 1970s. This film has dual citizenship, Brazilian for Brazil and Italian for Italy.

In the cast, the Bahian actor João Miguel stands out as the protagonist, along side Curitiba’s Fabiula Nascimento (newcomer to the big screen), Rio’s Babu Santana and Alexander Sil, Italy’s Carlo Briani and Sao Paulo’s Paulo Miklos.

The film was inspired by the short story “Presos pelo Estômago” (Caught by the Stomach) by Lusa Silvestre, who penned the screenplay in collaboration with Marcos Jorge. The script was written by de Lusa Silvestre, Marcos Jorge, Cláudia da Natividade and Fabrizio Donvito. The film was produced by Cláudia da Natividade, Fabrizio Donvito and Marco Cohen. The director of photography is Toca Seabra, whose career includes participation in a long list of films like O Outro Lado da Rua (The Other Side of the Street) in 2003; Cidade Baixa (Lower City) in 2005; and Cão Sem Dono (Stray Dog) in 2007. Music for the film was handled by Giovanni Venosta, composer of the award-winning sound tracks for several Italian films: “Pane e Tulipane” (Bread and Tulips) in 2000, “Brucciando al Vento” (Burning in the Wind) 2002) and “Agata e la Tempesta” (Agata and the Storm) in 2004.

ESTÔMAGO was awarded the Ministry of Cultures Low Budget Film grant and its screenplay participated in the prestigious seminar on international co-production "Produire au Sud," financed by the French government.

Produced by Zencrane Filmes and by Indiana Production, ESTÔMAGO is distributed by Downtown Filmes.