PARANÁ

Polish Galicia, 1896. After their mother’s death, sixteen-year-old Michał takes his younger sister Aniela to Brazil, promising her a home of their own. Instead, debt bondage separates them. Reunited on a logging estate, Michał wins the owner’s favour by improving timber transport. His friendship with two Kaingang brothers reveals another way of belonging to the land. Yet the promise of property tempts him to betray their secret river crossing and accept Aniela’s marriage to the owner’s brutal son. The ensuing destruction of sacred graves kills one of his friends. As Aniela and the workers organise an escape, Michał turns against his employer. Wounded while protecting the fugitives, he transforms into a black jaguar and confronts the man who bought his loyalty. Aniela recognises her brother but lets him return to the forest. Carrying the last seeds from Galicia, she continues her journey towards a home that remains to be found.

Director’s statement
The history of Polish migration to Brazil drew me to PARANÁ through its powerful blend of human experience, myth and cultural encounter. I envision an adventure with elements of fantasy, centred on a young man who must confront his own dark side. As local rituals and beliefs transform Michał’s identity, animation will immerse viewers in the mysterious forest of Paraná. I want to evoke the vanished worlds of nineteenth-century Polish Galicia and Brazil, preserving their traces in our shared memory. Continuing the approach of A Blue Room and Love in Times of Coal-Based Economy, I will use digital painting animation inspired by traditional paint-on-glass techniques. Fluid transitions and the texture of oil paint will give the characters an organic presence and reveal subtle, complex emotions. Working closely with the screenwriters, I aim to make psychological transformation inseparable from the film’s visual language.