Solo - Out of a Dream

Filmmaker Jos de Putter returns with star soccer player Leonardo to the ghettos of Rio de Janeiro, where the director filmed the then 11-year-old future star for the 1994 documentary Solo, the Law of the Favela (winner of the Joris Ivens Award 1994). After seeing the film, Feyenoord manager Willem van Hanegem brought the problem child Leonardo to the team, where he flourished and became a top player. De Putter explains in voice-over that all he wanted to do was film the lives of Leonardo and his buddy, and didn’t imagine for a moment that it might change Leonardo’s future. “I’ve often wondered what it means for a film to transport a life into a dream future. What are the consequences when the filmmaker plays God? And what has become of those who were left behind?” What happened for example to Leonardo’s old friends – those who are still alive, at least – and to his mother, who is now living in a mansion worth millions? It emerges that the relationship between Leonardo and his mother is a tragic one. Both speak frankly about their mutual grievances: the mother feels she has been deserted and despises her son’s new girlfriend, and Leonardo describes his mother as an “anaconda” who is only after the big money and never asked him what he wanted. “I had everything, but at same time I had nobody.” (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)