The month of March saw me and my friends – DoP Fábio Knoll and Sound Recordist Moisés Brasil – travelling to Shenzhen, China, to film my latest full-lenght documentary, called ‘Made in Dafen’. We have met local crew, led by producer Luca Infante (an englishman living in China) and an all chinese team of young filmmakers. For almost 20 days we dedicated ourselves to register the lives and magnificent work of the artists of Dafen.
Dafen is a tiny district in the middle of one of the largest cities on Earth and it is home to a huge community of outstanding artists – some of the best oil painters that exist. Through the last decades they have specialized in reproducing the works of the masters: Da Vinci, Dali, Van Gogh, Rembrandt etc. They use the same techniques, brushstrokes, paints… it is a deep dive into the minds and souls of these past icons, a true work of art! This talented work was able to built a huge and strong market of millions of dollars per year, abroad and in China.
Today, Dafen is also home to a new group of original artists that seek to develop their own style and language. We had the opportunity to encounter, spend some time and film these amazing talents, from both groups. All this material will soon be on Arte1 Channel, Brazil.
I have to aknowledge the incredible work of our team in Brazil, led by Executive Producer Bianca Corona and Producer Erica Suzumura, who struggle with getting visas, permits, lots of documents and adjusting a film crew + research team on the other side of the planet. Being able to send a documentary film crew to shoot in China, one of the most closed countries, is a huge feat! Very proud of the work we did collectively.
Now we move on to editing script and editing stages! More information here in due time.