Brazil’s ‘Carolina Maria de Jesus,’ a Goes to Cannes Showcase Winner, Is ‘Not Only a Film, It’s a Movement About Historically Invisible People’

May 26, 2026 5:21am PT Brazil’s ‘Carolina Maria de Jesus,’ a Goes to Cannes Showcase Winner, Is ‘Not Only a Film, It’s a Movement About Historically Invisible People’

The film is based on the international bestseller ‘Child of the Dark,’ translated into more than 15 languages and published in over 40 countries

By Roberto Prieto

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Roberto Prieto

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Brazilian Jeferson De’s “Carolina Maria de Jesus,” which won the A.H. Media Production Award at this year’s Goes to Cannes showcase, aims to capture the ‘cinematic dimension’ of one of Brazil’s literary greats, says Maria Gal (“Perfect Love”) who produced the film and stars as Carolina.

In post-production, the film is based on the worldwide bestseller “Quarto de Despejo” (“Child of the Dark”), Carolina’s diary published in 1960. De Jesus describes her life in the 1950s as a waste picker in the Canindé favela in São Paulo, Brazil. Through sheer talent and self-determination, she rises above extreme poverty and racism.

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