Hector Babenco makes use of striking images to tell each story that makes up Carandiru Station, the book by Drauzio Varella that spent 168 weeks on the bestseller list in Brazil and, with sales of 350,000 copies, is one of the most successful titles in the history of Brazil. The director read Carandiru Station while it was still in manuscript form. Three years after its publication (by Companhia das Letras, in 1999), the book has inspired the film Carandiru, a production that, under Hector Babenco’s direction, has brought together some of Brazil’s finest actors and technicians.

In his ninth full-length feature, Babenco creates a loyal adaptation of the book. The film follows the point of view of a doctor who makes regular visits to the São Paulo Penitentiary and hears hundreds of prisoners’ stories, about love and passion, crime and friendship. He is also the witness of the survivors of the 1992 massacre that left 111 people dead.

Gathering together the doctor’s stories of Latin America’s largest penitentiar, Babenco composes a sweeping and varied tapestry, full of humor and pathos, but always driven by a humanistic sense and a belief in redemption. This tapestry carries the viewer into emotional terrain that lies far beyond the stories of fear and violence that crowd the streets and the headlines in Brazil.

To tell the inmate’s stories, Babenco brings together some of Brazil’s most highly-regarded actors (Milton Gonçalves, Ivan de Almeida, Rodrigo Santoro, Maria Luisa Mendonça, Caio Blat) and he opens the door to new talents (Ailton Graça, Milhem Cortaz, Robson Nunes). For cinematography, he called upon Walter Carvalho, who has received more awards than any of his colleagues in the field. The soundtrack is the work of André Abujamra, who has proven his expertise in many films of the new generation. The experienced Mauro Alice designed the sets. The art director is Clovis Bueno and art design by Vera Hamburguer. Costumes were the creation of Cris Camargo. Make up (including the more than 700 tattoos sported by prisoners) is by Gabi Moraes. Vivian Golombek is the casting director. The actors underwent three months of preparation, in a series of workshops. Many of them are graduates of the famed CPT (Theatre Research Center), founded by Antunes Filho.

To produce a film of this complexity, Hector Babenco relied on the collaborative efforts of co-producers Flávio R. Tambellini and Fabiano Gullane and associate producer Daniel Filho.