Seasoned movie actor (Terra estrangeira), Fernando Alves Pinto plays Peninha, Miguel’s (Caco Ciocler) cellmate in the Ilha Grande Penitentiary. The relationship between the accomplices portrays the intimacy of prison life.

How was your participation in “Almost Brothers”?

This film was extremely important for me. I grew up in a family that went through many incidents related to the questions raised in the film. My uncle was imprisoned, many family friends involved. I grew up with Brazil: `love it or leave it`. For me, even without knowing exactly why, it was obvious how terrible things were. In this sense the power to reconstruct a little bit of this story in a film has an important significance, I guess not only for me, but also for all of my generation, that wasn’t involved directly in these situations.

The crew was very welcoming, and Lúcia put me at ease to participate in the creative process. Everyone was a partner. Time passed very quickly, and suddenly it was over. The set was a pleasure to work on, I knew few people but ended up liking everybody a lot. The film was fun to make, I feel like making it again.

The first time we read the script I thought it looked interesting. The text is well written, well constructed. .At the same time the freedom that the actors have to improvise on top of some dialogues contributes a lot. In reality I think that the script and makeup are clues, fragments that are used to create your puppet: a living being.

Talk about your character: Peninha.

The most notable aspect that saw in Peninha was his irresponsible lightness. I discerned this as a kind of protective measure that was fundamental for him not to be overcome by all the violence. He was tortured, he had a scar on his head, ,but he still was able to laugh . Not that he was an optimist, I guess there was just no way things could get worse for him.. Peninha almost died many times, in fact, his life was threatened every day. An interesting aspect of his character is that, despite the pressure, he takes risks, is irresponsible: he puts his girlfriend in danger to help his friend, He entertains himself in the midst of chaos. I was able to discover., through these little clues that were given me, that Peninha was not afraid because it was already so bad..

Why is it important to film this slice of our history?

Including all these incidents in the books we read as well as all the other absurd unfairness that has happened in Brazilian history is fundamental. The film shows that social injustices didn’t occur exclusively in the 70s, they existed before then and nowadays are as serious as they were before. I think filming this piece of our history helps us understand our country better and lessen our shock at what’s happening in the streets of Brazil today.

How do you feel about the ideals and the fight of the generation that preceded yours?

I think this was the generation of idealism. It was a generation full of romance and fantasy that hardly achieved anything. Today I guess thinking and being informed are disparaged. The important thing for that generation was exactly ideas, self-reflection. They thought about the world through an ideal and profoundly believed in it.

This is a film of important ideas. In sum, it is a team effort .Like an orchestra rehearsal. And I, during every minute of the filming, was all there. In truth, I think everybody had to be all there. That’s what I call professional schizophrenia, we only live for that.