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Synopsis
and Director's Statement
Forbidden
Wedding is the story of a man who is forbidden to get married
by the Catholic Church in Brazil because he is sexually impotent.
My passion is to produce films that tell deceptively small
stories that have significance well beyond the frame of the
camera. These stories are sometimes tragic, other times funny,
and are often seen through the eyes of ordinary people in
unusual circumstances. The documentary explores the relationship
between an institution and its people, and the triumph of
the human heart.
Hedir
Antonio de Brito, a paraplegic from the age of 15, wants simply
to marry Mara. They were preparing for the wedding; invitations
had been mailed, and their marriage certificate applied for
from the Roman Catholic Church. Then the shocking letter arrived
from the local bishop denying their application. According
to the Vatican¹s Canonic Law 1084, a man must be able
to copulate in order to get married.
When
I first read of the story in a small Brazilian newspaper in
New York, I was shocked. Didn¹t the Church have more
important things to do? Why were priests so concerned with
peoples' sex lives? I had to capture this story. I found out
that Hedir lived in a small town in southeast Brazil and within
a few days I was on a courier flight to document his story.
With my digital video camera in hand, I talked to the couple,
their families, the townspeople, and the local priests. Many
of them were afraid to speak their minds in the shadow of
the Catholic Church, but speak they eventually did. Told entirely
through their voices, the film unfolds into a gentle love
story about human sexuality, the rights of the disabled, and
faith in Brazil.
This video is available for rental $75 and sale $295 and also
public screenings. Director is also available to discuss the
film in public screenings. Check should be made to Means
of Productions and mailed to address below.
Flavia
Fontes
Means of Productions
209 East 81st Street, #5D
New York, NY 1
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