SYNOPSIS
A poet from the shadows, a filmmaker with no films and an enigmatic muse. A sort of "false documentary" about the passage of the poet by the city of Londrina in the fifties by the eyes of American filmmaker Jim Kleist.

SATORI USO' RELEASE
"satori ran away from light. I could only find him in the shadows"
Jim Kleist (1941-1992)

A poet from the shadows, a filmmaker with no films and an enigmatic muse. That's the plot of the film "Satori Uso" (BRA, fic, color and b&w, 17min, 2007) by Rodrigo Grota, a sort of "false documentary" about the passage of the poet by the city of Londrina in the fifties by the eyes of American filmmaker Jim Kleist. Neither the poet nor the filmmaker actually existed -- they're both fictional characters.

Produced by Kinoarte with financial support of the Londrina City Hall, the short-footage is made partially of parts of an unfinished film by Jim Kleist: Isolation, which was shot in Londrina in 1967, when the American filmmaker was in Brazil. Born in the month of May, 1941, in New York, Kleist became close to all the main members of the beat generation. He believed that finishing a film was to "give it a settled form, make it lifeless. The charm lies in what's incomplete, in its flow". Well-known in the New York underground, Kleist would commit suicide in 1992.

Chatting with some members of the beat generation, Kleist got to know Satori Uso and became fascinated with his poetry. Satori had just arrived from Brazil, precisely from Londrina, Paraná. After one published book by Tokyo Press in 1950, Nihonbashi Doji, the poet decided that never again would publish any of his writings. Still under the influence of the breakup with Satine, his inspiring muse, Satori only wanted to isolate himself from the whole world, "to come back to a certain origin, a kind of begining, returning to the natural state where all things are incomplete and continuous", says Kleist.

THE POET

Despite of all the verisimilitude, Satori Uso never existed. He's a creation of Rodrigo Garcia Lopes, writer who lives in Londrina. The character was created in 1986, on the literary space of local newspaper "Folha de Londrina". On a biographical sort of news, Garcia Lopes told the passage of Satori in Londrina, and also published some of the author's haikus.

SHOOTING

Shot in Londrina and Assaí between 5th and 12th March, 2006, Satori Uso cost approximately R$100.000,00. The film crew is in its majority made of people who live in Londrina, except for director of photography Carlos Ebert (The Red Light Gangster -- "O Bandido da Luz Vermelha") and actress Caren Utino.

TRILOGY

With Satori Uso, Rodrigo Grota starts a series of three short footage films about the city of Londrina during the fifties, which he defines as "kind of an oblivion trilogy". The second film will tell the life of American jazzman Booker Pittman, while he lived in Londrina. According to the director, all the three films will be shot in black & white and will dialogue amongst them.

SATORI USO PRODUCTION CREDITS
DIRECTED BY
Rodrigo Grota

SCREENPLAY BY
Rodrigo Garcia Lopes
Rodrigo Grota

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Carlos Ebert (ABC)

INTRODUCING
Rogério Ivano Satori Uso
Caren Utino Satine
Zé Nietzsche Jim Kleist voice over
Sérgio Leite
José Belaque Morandi
Mateus Moscheta
Priscila Grossi Campos
Fábio Cavazotti
Anderson Craveiro

ART DIRECTION BY
José de Aguiar

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Caio Julio Cesaro
Rodrigo Grota

PRODUCTION DIRECTION BY
Guilherme Peraro
Bruno Gehring

ASSISTANTS DIRECTOR
Bruno Gehring
Guilherme Peraro
Mariana Soares

EDITED BY
Rodrigo Grota

ON LINE EDITION
Guilherme Baracat

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Carlos Ebert (ABC)

COSTUME DESIGN
Luciana Gadotti

ASSISTANTS CINEMATOGRAPHER
Anderson Craveiro (1st assistant)
Danilo Miranda
Eduardo C. Neto
Meg Yamagute
Paulo Yamagute

GAFFER
Cícero Barbosa

STILL
Meg Yamagute

SATINE PHOTOS
Meg Yamagute
Zé Nietzsche

POST PRODUCTION SATINE PHOTOS
Paulo Yamagute

TRANSLATIONS
Guilherme Peraro

ENGLISH CONSULTANT
Michael Wysmierski

GRAPHIC PROJECT
Guilherme Baracat
José de Aguiar

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
Argel Medeiros

MAKE-UP
Lílian Manganaro

ASSISTANT ART DIRECTION
Leonardo Delai Lucas

HAIR COSTUME
Denize Cotrim

PRESS
Kinoarte

SOUNDTRACK
Johann Sebastian Bach
Astor Piazzolla
Bill Evans

JIM KLEIST VOICE OVER RECORDING
Casablanca Sounds

SPONSORSHIP
Prefeitura Municipal de Londrina
Secretaria de Cultura de Londrina
Programa Municipal de Incentivo à Cultura -- Promic

CULTURAL SUUPORT
Supermercados Viscardi
Kiberama Restaurante
Sebo Capricho
Itamaraty
Grupo Paulo Pimentel

This film was shoot in 2006 march, in Londrina and Assai, Parana, Brazil.

This film is a product of
KINOARTE - Instituto de Cinema e Vídeo de Londrina

www.kinoarte.org.br
2007 (less info)