Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro Goes Beyond the Grave

There is a synchronicity between art, detectives and the restless dead and Brazilian director Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro has set out to explore the boundaries.

In post-production is Beyond the Grave [aka Porto Dos Mortos] (Spain-2009; dir. Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro) — a noirish, apocalyptic, zombiesque, western hybrid that follows “the unstoppable hunt of the vengeful cop Lockheart (Rafael Tombini) for Adam, a supernatural serial killer”. Set in the post-apocalyptic wastelands of a “dystopian Brazil”, it features “returners” — the living dead — which complicate Lockhart’s attempts to deal with his demonic nemesis.

“It’s a violent and emotional experience, mixing possession, black magic, the living dead and intense doses of suspense, character work and spanking action”, Davi commented.

Trailer (go to the website to see a HD version):

In conjunction with this — or perhaps as a sort of flipside — Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro has produced a short film that takes a more experimental approach to the art/detective nexus. “The Soul Detective” is a 9-minute film about a psychic investigator and the nature of art.

Synopsis:

A detective enters a train car were he finds different manifestations of a force that haunts the place. Using his telepathic powers he tries to enter the mind of a recently deceased man before all his memories vanish.

“The Soul Detective” is is the fifth and last episode from V2 Cinema’s Brazilian web series Boundaries of Thought: Think Tank. It is based around an interview with filmmaker David Lynch — and Lynch features in the film, snippets of his thoughts punctuating the detective’s surreal search for a truth that lies beyond death.

Said Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro:

“The interview was not made to be a piece of ‘cinéma vérité’ [cinema of truth], but as a sound and vision experiment, to see how an opinion can become a fiction completely different from its original intent. The short was structured over atmosphere and instinct, with the use of free association.”

On the association between Beyond the Grave and “The Soul Detective” the director commented,

“Beyond the Grave is a popular movie with experimental echoes. I turned that around and made an experimental movie with popular echoes, resulting in ‘The Soul Detective’. I was interested in questions of rhythm, internal movement and the search of new soundscapes.”

You can view the very Lynchian “The Soul Detective” in its entirety here:

The Soul Detective from Think Tank on Vimeo.

The online Think Tank series is made up of visual essays, made by Brazilian directors, within reach of all through the Internet. Every month, an unpublished short-film featuring highly respected personalities from movies, theater, music and plastic arts appeared online. The directors Márcio Schoenardie, Fernando Belens, Gustavo Spolidoro, Camila Gonzatto and Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro showcased their particular views of art to the world using this experimental medium.

Split between five shorts, directed by five different Brazilian filmmakers, it presents almost an hour of interviews and visual essays. Lynch, Beto Brant, Philip Glass, Fernando Arrabal, José Padilha and Wim Wenders are among the stars of each segment. The series was a spin off from the international seminar Boundaries of Thought (aka Fronteiras do Pensamento, 2007-2008) held in Brazil.

• Source: www.v2cinema.com and Lockheart Filmes Ltda press releases