Lion's Den
Julia (Martina Gusman) is asleep, her face captured in extreme close-up. As she wakes, her tousled hair, chipped nail polish and heavy eye makeup signal the extremities of the night before. As the camera pulls away, we but not Julia immediately see the blood on her pillow.
Julia may or may not have harmed the two men lying in pools of blood in her apartment. One of them, Ramiro (Rodrigo Santoro), is still alive, and it is his testimony that sends Julia to jail.
But concerns about a murder sentence actually take a back seat when Julia discovers that she is pregnant. A story that began as a thriller now takes a complete turn, becoming an in-depth exploration of an incarcerated woman's struggle to raise a child within the prison system.
Resigning herself to both the jail and her pregnancy, Julia is slow to warm to the other inmates. She eventually falls into a community of friendship, a circle of women that embody a prison's version of the adage it takes a village.
When her son is born, Julia discovers a well of maternal love and the inklings of hope. For years, she fights for a new trial in the hopes of providing a future for her son. When that dream is quashed, she makes a decision that risks everything. (Toronto Film Festival)
Starring: Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro