Interview with the Director Manoel Fernandes Neto, Filmmaker in the Spotlight for the Short Film ‘ Nobody ́s Crowd’ at The Mykonos International Film Festival

Director Biography – Manoel Fernandes Neto

Manoel Fernandes Neto, 40 years old, is from Paraíba and was born in João Pessoa, capital of the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. He has a degree in Cinema and Audiovisual at UFPB (Federal University of Paraíba). As director, he directed the short films: “Os Alquimistas de Camalaú”, Documentary. 2011; “Coletivo de Multidão”, his first fiction 2021 (in release) and will soon release his first feature: The Republic of the Jungle, Fiction. 2022.

As a producer, he will produce the feature film “Fúria”, 2022, 1st semester 2022 and Series A Invasion in 2nd Semester 2022.

1. You wrote and directed the film ‘Nobody´s Crowd’. What should the audience expect to see?

A film that aims to present the coldness and social distance of a young couple, impacted by technological changes in society, accentuated by the pandemic of the new coronavirus.

2. Tell us a bit about your background. When did you decide to become a filmmaker?

I have a degree in Cinema from the Federal University of Paraíba, located in the northeast of Brazil. Place of great popular culture, folklore and festivities, which since the beginning of my professional training encouraged me to portray them.

3. What are the directors that inspire you the most?

Glauber Rocha, Theo Angelopoulos, Apichatpong, and Abbas Kiarostami

4. Besides the philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, where did you get the inspiration from for creating your story? What about your characters?

I live in a small port and coastal town in northeastern Brazil. And during its winter, the city is empty, the people sad and locked in their homes. Thus, when thinking about the work globally, I remembered Tostoi’s concept: “Talk about your village and you are talking about the world”.

5. We know you wrote and directed ‘Nobody´s Crowd’. What did you enjoy the most about working the film? What did you find more challenging?

The difficult task of directing actors proposing a de-dramatization and taking them to the universe of coldness and contemporary life. An arduous and challenging task.

6. Do you have any on set stories you would like to share?

The crab that appears in the film is called “Expedito”. A Roman Catholic saint, from impossible causes. Because I thought it was impossible for him not to bite anyone, but he behaved like a real actor (laughs).

7. How did you choose your Cast? Was this your first time working with them?

We opened a call for local tests, where we got to the current cast, which was even the first time we worked.

8. When you’re working with your actors, do you like to leave room for improvisation or do you prefer to stick to the script?

Yes I like. But the proposal had certain strict dramatic parameters, which made this impossible.

9. What is the universal message that ‘Nobody´s Crowd’ conveys?

The coldness and detachment of human relationships, such as those we are seeing during the pandemic, could lead the world and man to a robotization of their affections and emotions.

10. What’s next for you? What are you working on at the moment?

We are finishing our first feature film called “The Wind Republic”. A hybrid film that talks about a group of students, who begin to live supernatural experiences as an escape from the reality of Brazil in the days of Bolsonaro.

NOBODY´S CROWD – Overview

Year 2024. We are in a loneliness and crowd at the same time. After the new coronavirus pandemic, Celso, a young Port employee, lives in a parallel reality. He behaves like a robot and is fond of a Sex Doll, ignoring everything around him, including Emma, his wife. She divides her days among her job as a librarian in a School for the deaf, her attempts to bring Celso back to reality and weekly seasons of Sadomasochism with an elderly woman. Stuck in this dysfunctional routine, they must face each other and ask: will we drown together or will we finally plunge into a new life?