We were pumped to be headed to the SFIFF again this year with our friend, Liana, who’s from Brazil. We’ve seen several Brazilian films together at the festival over the years, and this year we had a number of good options, but decided on 12 Labours, a film by Ricardo Elias.

12 Labours is the story of Heracles, a young Brazilian boy, recently released from one of Sao Paulo’s notorious juvenile jails back onto the streets. With the help of his cousin, Heracles lands a job as one of the city’s numerous motorbike couriers, and (like his mythological namesake) is in no time dispatched on what becomes twelve jobs or tasks. After the film, we shared reactions with Liana and talked with her about how she thought 12 Labours compared to other Brazilian films, like City of God, Carandiru, Bus 174, and Favela Rising.

L: I really liked it and thought it reflected real lives and attitudes of Brazilians - it was sad, though. It seems that most of the Brazilian films that make it in the international arena are pretty much the same story (at least the ones I have seen, which I don't know are totally representative of the Brazilian film industry) ... a story of survival of poor people in Brazil ... but since most of the population lives in those circumstances, I guess those are the stories to tell. . . .

More of Liana and SFist Wendy's conversation about Brazilian life after the jump!

It's SFist Wendy and Liana, chatting about Tuesday night's movie!