Brazils Official Selection for the Oscar Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION by writer-director Cao Hamburger.
A selection of the 2007 Berlin Film Festival competition, the film will open in New York and Los Angeles in January, followed by a national release.
A humorous and moving new film about exile, THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION is set in 1970 Brazil. Twelve-year-old Mauro (Michel Joelsas)s life is turned topsy-turvy when his left-wing militant parents are forced to go underground and leave him in the care of his Jewish grandfather on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. His grandfathers unexpected heart attack forces Mauro into the care of his neighbor Shlomo (Germano Haiut,) a solitary and cantankerous man.
Unable to contact his parents, Mauro settles into daily life within the neighborhoods Jewish community. He befriends tomboyish, street smart Hanna (Daniela Piepszyk) and develops a crush on pretty Irene (Liliana Castro,) a waitress in a local bar where everyone, including Mauro, an ardent soccer fan, gathers to watch iconic star Pel in the 1970 World Cup championship which Mauro hopes to watch with his parents if they return to Brazil in time
Hamburgers previous film, Ratimbum Castle, won Best Film Awards at The Toronto International Film Festival for Children and Chicagos International Children Film Festival. THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION is Hamburgers second film and is co-produced by Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener.)