"For me, the movie deals with the possibilities of different ethnic groups living together in harmony, as exemplified by the soccer game between Italians, Jews and blacks. " says director and writer Cao Hamburger.

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The Year My Parents Went on Vacation has been described as one of Brazil's most brilliant films. It is also their official entry into the Oscar Best Foreign Language film for 2008.

What's the Movie About: In 1970 Brazil and the world seemed to have been turned upside-down, but the biggest worry in young 12 year-old Mauro’s mind had little or nothing to do with the proliferation of military dictatorships in South America or with the Vietnam war. His biggest dream was to see Brazil become the three-time winner of the World Cup.

Mauro is at a stage in life when one moves from childhood into adolescence. He is forced to live without his parents, left-wing militants forced underground. They leave him with his grandfather. But something unexpected has happened to his grandfather and Mauro is left alone without being able to inform his parents. Shlomo, his grandfather’s next-door neighbor, a solitary Jewish man and employee of the local synagogue, winds up taking care of him. The unexpected cohabitation results in a plunge into unknown worlds, from which they emerge more mature than before.

While he waits for a call from his parents, Mauro learns to face a very often harsh and painful reality. He finds himself alone and repeats the saga of his grandparents - Jewish immigrants - surviving in a new world. Mauro encounters a gallery of colorful characters including Hanna, an irreverent tom boy and street savvy girl, with an enormous talent for making bets and business deals; the pretty waitress Irene, who sparks the imagination of all the kids from the block; the Rabbi, a fan of the Corinthian soccer team; the Brazilian Italian man Ítalo who is involved in student demonstrations, and Edgar, the mulatto goalie of the local soccer team. With his new friends, Mauro shares his passion for soccer, his first sexual discoveries and his desire to regain the happiness suffocated by the dictatorship.

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Interview with writer and director Cao Hamburger

Despite not being autobiographical, THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION contains a lot of elements from your early years.

The film isn’t autobiographical, but the screenplay does contain a few of my memories, as well as those of Claudio Galperin, my co-screenwriter, and other crew members. We all used our memories, from the screenplay to the cinematography and art direction.

Is it a film about exile?

It is a story about a boy exiled in his own country. Mauro is a boy who learns to get along in a new environment, yet is exiled once again. Mauro says to himself: I came here alone and managed to survive.

He goes through rites of passage. He learns that life is not controllable, that it s not like a solitary game of table-top soccer, where you can control the results.

Tell us about the choice of a Jewish community to serve as the backdrop.

For me, the movie deals with the possibilities of different ethnic groups living together in harmony, as exemplified by the soccer game between Italians, Jews and blacks. Mauro is adopted by the Jewish community, yet he is not indoctrinated. Mauro’s relationship to his new environment, and particularly his
grandfather’s apartment and the culture that it represents, are key elements. Just like our ancestors’ stories are part of our stories, his grandfather’s apartment becomes a part of Mauro’s life.

Why did you choose the goalie figure?

The film isn’t about soccer, but I like the analogy with the solitary goalie. I used to be a goalie. The goalie is the odd guy on the team, the only one who catches the ball in his hands, who doesn’t attack, who defends, and sometimes becomes a hero; but he is a player who can’t fail, because if he does, he becomes one of the bad guys. There is this saying in Brazil: “The goalie’s life is so hard that not even the grass grows where he plays.”

You have a lot of experience directing kids. How was it directing Michel Joelsas (Mauro) and Daniela Piepszyk (Hanna)?

Michel and Daniela are incredible. Patricia Faria, our casting director came back in a daze after her first visit to their schools. She couldn’t believe how smart, well behaved, and interested they both were. Michel has incredible timing. He is in 99% of the scenes, and he is always very cool and easy-going. Daniela is very charismatic and talented. They are both born actors.

Which cinematographic references inspired you the most?

I have pretty broad cinematographic influences. I’m a big fan of Kubrick, Sergio Leone, Fellini, Spielberg, Chaplin, Kusturica, Wim Wenders, Fernando Meirelles, Japanese films and contemporary Argentinean cinema... I’m a big audiovisual melting pot. But, with so many references, I try to find my own style, to find what is most personal in different styles and narratives.

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How did you pick the people who work with you?

Well, they say that 90% of the director’s work is choosing his team and cast. I handpicked my crew. I had already worked with most of them before, and those who were with us for the first time caught on really quickly. Making films is team work, and I really like the whole process. And the team has to be as involved as I myself am in the project. In an analogy to soccer, I had a first class team and we all played to the same tune.

How did you feel about being in the Berlin Film Festival?

With my ancestors coming from Berlin, it is like closing the cycle of an immersion into my father and grandfather’s culture. My father comes from a Jewish family but my mother is from a Catholic Italian family. Like Mauro, the main character in the film, my life has always revolved around dealing with differences. I don’t think there could be a better place than Berlin for touching on this theme, a city known for its cosmopolitanism and tolerant society in the 19th century, and one which suffered through the horrors of both world wars, and then, true to its vocation, broke down the wall and became once again one of the most important cities in the world in terms of culture.

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