Defiant

Runtime: 90'

Expected release: January 2026

Production stage: Editing

Budget: €160,000 (100% in place)

1st feature: No

Looking for: Festival programmers and international distributors, buyers, strategic guidance

Synopsis:

Suzy is a trans black woman from Campinas, the last Brazilian city to abolish slavery. She runs a shelter for vulnerable trans people, works in the public health service, does religious rituals, looks after her family and now she faces a new challenge: running for councillor. Through an intimate portrait, the film explores the joys and struggles of doing politics in a country resistant to dissident bodies.

Director’s Profile:

Coraci Ruiz has been a documentary filmmaker since 2003, when she took part in founding the production company Cisco Lab, which specialises in themes related to human rights and the environment. Her work includes the features “Letters to Angola” (awarded in Brazil, Angola, Portugal and Belgium), “Threshold” (more than eighty festivals and twenty-two awards in Brazil and abroad) and “Blooming on the Asphalt” (fifteen awards in Brazil and abroad). She has also directed a number of short films and series, including “Brazilian Sonorities: Women’s Lyrics” (winner of the TAL TV 2024 Award in the Music Content category). She is currently working on the feature films “Defiant” and “Mirante: send me news from over there”. She has a degree in Dance, a Master’s in Audiovisual Culture and Media, a PhD in Multimedia, all at Unicamp.

Producer’s Profile:

Julio Matos has been a director and producer since 2003, when he took part in founding the production company Cisco Lab, which specialises in themes related to human rights and the environment. His work includes the features “Letters to Angola” (awarded in Brazil, Angola, Portugal and Belgium) and “Blooming on the Asphalt” (fifteen awards in Brazil and abroad); and the short “Mute Utopia”, screened and awarded at important festivals such as It’s All True (Editing Award) and Biarritz Amérique Latine (Special Mention). He has a degree in Sociology from Unicamp and a master’s degree in Social Communication from Goldsmiths University of London.