Aluizio Abranches, “Do Começo ao Fim”, Computer Graphics, Film Gifs (Rafael Cardoso and João Gabriel Vasconcellos), 2009, Cinematographer Ueli Steiger, Soundtrack André Abujamra
“Do Começo ao Fim (From Beginning to End)” is a 2009 Brazilian romantic drama film written and directed by Aluizio Abranches. The film stars Rafael Cardoso as Thomás and João Gabriel Vasconcellos as his brother Francisco. In their early stage of life, Gabriel Kaufmann is in the role of Thomás at age six and Lucas Cotrim plays Francisco at the age of eleven. Júlia Lemmertz is in the role of their mother, who gave birth to Francisco in her first marriage and Thomás in her second marriage to husband Alexandre played by Fábio Assunção.
“Do Começo ao Fim” was filmed almost entirely in Rio de Janeiro with parts filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For its premier, nine copies of the film were released in Brazil in 2009. Despite the limited release, the film became one of the top ten most-watched Brazilian films in that year. In 2010, it was released in DVD form in Brazil with success; after its premier in France, the first edition of the DVD and Blu-ray sold out in less than two weeks.
The film was shown in 2010 at the Seattle International Film Festival in May, the Frameline Film Festival (the oldest LBGTQ+ film festival in the world) in June, and in July the Outfest Film Festival and QFest. The film which dealt with homosexuality and incest received mixed reviews.