The journeys of Tereza (O Último Azul)

Gabriel Mascaro, Brazil

2025 - 1h26

Winner of the Silver Bear – Grand Jury Prize, Berlin 2025

Set in a dystopian Brazil, the film tells the story of an elderly woman’s odyssey as part of the resistance: an ode to freedom, a successful blend of an empowering adventure and a science fiction film.

The film is adapted from the book "The Journeys of Tereza" ("O Último Azul") by Denise Weinberg, who delivered a vibrant performance as a woman finding a new lease of life in her twilight years.

In an effort to boost the economy, pensioners are required to spend their twilight years in a retirement community. Are the elderly truly being sent on holiday, or… to the scrap heap? Tereza, aged 77, rebels and runs away into the Amazon. This journey will change her life forever.

Director Gabriel Mascaro successfully blends a dystopian nightmare with an empowering adventure epic. The film captivates from the outset thanks to a world-building approach that is as minimalist as it is ingenious.

The film evokes a concentration-camp-like anxiety, yet within this pared-back portrayal lies a blend of ‘DIY’ futurism and clinical precision, in keeping with the economic precariousness depicted and the coldness of the government authorities responsible for the extreme measure to which the heroine refuses to submit.

In this anti-ageism fable, full of light and intelligence, the film is brimming with inspired, meaningful compositions and colors, as mentioned, as unrestrained as Tereza herself.

"A liberating epic set in the heart of a fantastical Amazon" – Télérama