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DOUBLE DOUBLE THIS THIS

BABALU É CARNE FORTE

By Xulia DOXÁGUI

CAMALEOA FILMES - as DISTR Theatrical, TV, VOD, Airline, World, BRAZIL / PROD

Female director - Pre-Production 2023

A trans woman young doctor returns to the small town where she grew up on São Cosme e Damião’s Eve. Mysterious children invite her to heal from an old wound, by playing.

- Year of production
- 2023
- Genres
- Female director, First film, Fantasy
- Countries
- BRAZIL
- Languages
- PORTUGUESE
- Budget
- 0 - 0.3 M$
- Duration
- 18 mn
- Director(s)
- Xulia DOXÁGUI
- Writer(s)
- Xulia DOXÁGUI
- Producer(s)
- Lucas DANIEL (Cruza Criativa)
- Synopsis
- "Double Double This That" is a social fantasy, with universal elements of fantastic fiction and important allegories of Brazilian traditional culture - especially from underdeveloped communities in the Northeast of the country. The film tells the journey of Diana and deals with themes such as memory and mourning, through a light and affective approach, from the perspective of healing.
  
  Diana is a travesti - a non-binary latinamerican gender identity - who is also an overly organized and responsible young doctor. But she's afraid of falling down— one of thoses adult cowardness: she doesn't ride a plane or a bicycle; she only gets up after the subway comes to a complete stop; she doesn't step on wet ground; or sleep on the top bunk; she doesn't run or jump.
  
  Ever since she watched her twin brother die, while trying to catch a kite at the top of a church, Diana broke her bond with her own childhood and forced herself to grow up. Now she is back in the small town where they grew up to heal from these two griefs: the death of her brother and the disconnection with her own inner child.
  
  Her arrival takes place right on the eve of the São Cosme and Damião’s festivities, the twin saints who protect children and which are worshiped in the syncretism between Catholicism and the religions of the African diaspora, and for whom Diana’s grandmother is devoted.
  
  Every year in September, people offer sweets and candies to the neighborhood’s kids, in order to worship those children's spirits. Getting involved with the party preparations is Diana's way of getting closer to her family. And as this happens, a series of fantastic events evoking the energy of childhood takes place.
  
  An insatiable craving for sweets; voices of strange kids singing we can’t see; during the mass of the saints, Daniel, her late brother, appears in the church with his body full of goodies, playing hide-and-seek with Diana; another day, the little boy visits her in a dream, calling her to play with him again.
  
  Diana no longer knows the boundaries between the material and the spiritual world. What is reality, dream, or delusion from her hypoglycemia? She feels scared and decides to vent to her grandmother about the feeling of being chased by children. Gradma Graça conforts her saying she shouldn't need to fear those who protect her. Diana then allows herself to relax. During the so waited party, she watches the game with enchantment, but keeping a certain distance.
  
  Until the moment a girl challenges Diana to compete with her in one of the games, the sack race. Diana hesitates, but is eventually convinced. They end up losing it, as Diana ends up falling mid-match - immersed in such euphoria and taken by the adrenaline of the moment, she doesn't even realize there's blood dripping from her knee. In that moment, she starts to make peace with her own inner child.
- Partners & financing
- Recife City Hall - Secretary of Culture
- Beginning of shooting
- Jul 04, 2022
- End of shooting
- Jul 09, 2022