On the 5th of November of 2021, Brazil came to a halt. In a tragedy that would lead to national mourning, the country’s most popular singer, Marília Mendonça, died in a plane crash that also took the lives of four other people. Now, almost five years after the shocking accident, Mendonça’s life and career will be seen on screen in great depth and intimacy for the first time thanks to Prime Video’s “Marília Mendonça – Sentimento Louco,” which had its world premiere at the Rio Film Festival.
Directed by Susanna Lira, “Sentimento Louco” (“Crazy Feeling,” in literal translation) is the first project to be launched at Amazon under a licensing deal with the singer’s family that allowed the major streamer unparalleled access to Mendonça’s personal archives, including the singer’s diaries, notebooks and phone. This deal is Brazil’s largest investment in preserving the memory of a national artist, and will also result in a fiction film telling the singer’s story. Titled “Marília,” the project stars Marina Versos, Klara Castanho, Sophia Valverde, Marcelo Serrado and João Guilherme and is set to premiere next year.
Speaking with Variety ahead of the series premiere in Rio, Amazon Studios’ creative executive Joy Ernanny calls their access to over 530,000 images, 50,000 videos and hundreds of written notes by sertanejo singer Marília an “incredible opportunity.” “We knew we had a very unique project in our hands,” she adds. “And we knew we needed someone who would take a lot of care with these images and the ethical triage involved with the material. That’s when we called Susanna.”
Asked whether she felt any trepidation in tackling such an ambitious and sensitive project, Lira says she saw it as a “privilege” and didn’t feel “an ounce of hesitation.” “The only thing that leads to a certain apprehension is a sense of responsibility you have when tackling the life of someone so popular. There’s immense expectation from fans, and we need to portray this woman as she was.”
“I’ve been a fan of Marília’s since 2017,” she says. “I was in love with her, knew all of her lyrics, I thought she was out of this world: this woman who didn’t comply with beauty standards, singing songs she wrote herself and that spoke of what women wanted to talk about and wanted to hear about. On the day of the accident, my daughter called me, saying I was the first person to come to her mind and how much I’d miss her. When I was invited to direct the series, I felt it was almost a divine calling.”
Susanna Lira, courtesy of Prime Video
Lira, who is a veteran director of screen biographies, says she believes they must “preserve their subject’s private lives, but also thread a very respectful line.”
“It’s not only because we had access to this material, and the fact that Marília is no longer here, that we would throw caution out of the window,” she adds. “On the contrary, we were even more careful with the material because you don’t have the person here telling you what they want and don’t want to share.”
The launch of “Sentimento Louco” is the beginning of a coordinated promotion strategy by Amazon in Brazil, which also includes a brand new exhibition at São Paulo’s Museum of Image and Sound and exclusive musical content on Amazon Music. The streamer is also hosting major premieres of the series across the country in capitals like Goiânia, Brazil’s capital of sertanejo, and Belo Horizonte.
“It is the first time I’ve seen it happen with so many teams and to have this level of interest from different departments,” says Ernanny of the integrated strategy.
Head of Brazil Local Originals Felipe Tewes says: “If we can create a space where they can spend time with Marília in different ways, then I think that we will have done right by the fans.”
Tewes also emphasizes his belief that “Sentimento Louco” has high international potential.
“I believe her story and her music can really work on our global platform,” he says. “Obviously, in Brazil, people are so excited about it, and that is our priority: to make a story of Marília that the Brazilian fans will watch and rewatch and absolutely love and tell everybody about […] but we’re going to distribute it around the whole world.”
“I find it so interesting how huge Marília is, but also how she still has so much room to grow in terms of her fanbase outside of Brazil,” he adds. “Our strategy is really to do something that resonates so hugely in Brazil because we really have touched on a passion the audience responds to. But we also believe that is what is going to make it universal. If we get that right, that’s what’s going to make it be watched across the world.”
As for starting the series’ journey at the Rio Film Festival, Tewes says experiencing the energy and the passion fans have for Marília in a cinema room is really going to “capture why we are making all of these projects.”
Lira adds she feels “emotional” about premiering at the festival, as it speaks to Mendonça’s trailblazing personality. “She loved to occupy spaces she would, in theory, not be expected to be in,” says the director. “It feels revolutionary to be placing this extraordinary woman at the centre of a film festival red carpet.”
“Marília Mendonça – Sentimento Louco” is produced by Chatrone and Kromaki. The series is directed by Susanna Lira, with Valentina Castello Branco, Gabriela Altaf and Fabiana Assis penning the script. The series will arrive on Prime Video globally on Oct. 16.
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