The Blue Trail

O último azul

66th TIFF: Greek Premiere
In a road movie that ventures not on paved highways, but along the world’s largest river, Τhe Blue Trail – the only horizon of freedom in a country asphyxiating under the weight of contemporary totalitarianism – a 77-year-old working-class woman decides to alter the course of her life to fulfill a seemingly simple yet extremely difficult life-long desire. In an unspecified present, Brazil’s government has established enormous senior housing colonies, supposedly designed to “improve” quality of life, but serving, in reality, the revival of the country's economy, ravaged by the pandemic. Tereza, who has spent her entire life in a small, industrialized town, refuses to conform to this horizontal measure and when the age limit drops, threatening to confine her in a “penal colony” in just a few days, she flees, riding the flow of the water. Her dream is to broad a plane for the very first time… The winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 75th Berlinale tells a singular tale of transformation set in the heart of the Amazon, where dystopia becomes an incubator of revolt and radical change, delivering a special political allegory. At the same time, it serves as an introduction to the wonderful artist Gabriel Mascaro, a prominent representative of the “Recife School,” whom we first met in Thessaloniki with the fearless Neon Bull (2015).
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Direction: Gabriel Mascaro
Script: Gabriel Mascaro, Tibério Azul
Cinematography: Guillermo Garza
Editing: Omar Guzmán, Sebastián Sepúlveda
Sound: Maria Alejandra Rojas, Arturo Salazar
Music: Memo Guerra
Actors: Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socarrás, Adanilo
Production: Desvia, Cinevinay, Quijote Films, Viking Film
Producers: Rachel Daisy Ellis, Sandino Saravia Vinay
Co-producers: Giancarlo Nasi, Marleen Slot
Production Design: Dayse Barreto
Executive producer: Paulo Domingues, Rachel Daisy Ellis, Murilo Hauser
Format: DCP
Color: Colour
Production Country: Brazil, Mexico, Chile, The Netherlands
Production Year: 2025
Duration: 86'
Distribution in Greece: Weird Wave
Contact: Lucky Number
Awards/Distinctions: Silver Berlin Bear Grand Jury Prize & Prize of the Ecumenical Jury & Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Jury Award – Berlin International Film Festival (2025), Best Feature (Ibero-America Competition) & PREMIO MAGUEY Award for Best Performance (Denise Weinberg) – Guadalajara International Film Festival (2025)

Gabriel Mascaro

Gabriel Mascaro (1983, Recife, Brazil) is an acclaimed filmmaker and visual artist known for blending poetic realism with incisive social commentary. His work has screened at major festivals worldwide, earning honors such as the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize at Venice for Neon Bull (2015) and selections at Sundance and Berlinale for Divine Love (2019). His latest feature, The Blue Trail (2025), premiered in Competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.

Filmography

2009 High-Rise (documentary)
2010 Avenida Brasília Formosa (documentary)
2012 Ebb and Flow (documentary short)
2014 August Winds
2015 Neon Bull
2019 Divine Love
2025 The Blue Trail