Love for Sale

When her husband goes to Sao Paulo and does not come back, Hermila returns with her baby to her home town in the northeast of Brazil. There is no money, no work and no way out of town. Then she has an idea: she offers herself as the prize in a raffle, sells the tickets, and will spend a night with the winner. The film is not interested in morality. It is interested in arithmetic: she does this not out of shame but as a plan of escape, and the film does not judge her. The town's reaction is less anger than a kind of bewilderment. The form is realist and warm: light, streets, a dusty square, real locations. The camera never leaves her side. Karim Aïnouz directed. The original title is Suely in the Sky, and the woman chooses a new name for herself; that change of name is the film in miniature. Hermila Guedes leads and drew attention in Brazilian cinema for the performance. Who it is for: viewers who like Brazilian cinema and woman-centred social drama. Who it is not for: anyone wanting resolution. The film leaves its ending open and never claims anyone's life has improved.