In a soy field somewhere in the Brazilian countryside, ostriches peck and combine harvesters drive past the body of a trans woman in a white dress. Meanwhile, her friends are going through her belongings, as others try to track her down over debts. The field owner’s rich son is making the rounds of the family property. Madalena’s disappearance seems to have meant nothing more than another flash in the night sky, supposedly caused by a UFO. But Madalena wasn't from another world, she lived in and belonged to Brazil.

Madiano Marcheti

A director and screenwriter from the Amazonian Mato Grosso region of Brazil, he made four short films after graduating from the university in Rio de Janeiro. Simultaneously subtle and uncompromising, his feature debut Madalena was screened at leading festivals including IFFs in Rotterdam, San Sebastian and Melbourne.