Paulo Coelho: The Pilgrim
De Macedo told Screen: “The film tells the story of a man who has a dream. It’s a little like Alice in Wonderland – he’s someone who is too big for his house.” The film, shot in Portuguese, had its premiere in Brazilian Theaters on 2014… The film focuses on three different moments of the writer’s career — his youth in the 60s (period in which is lived by the actor Ravel Andrade); adulthood in the 80s (Julio Andrade); and maturity, in 2013, when he visits once again Santiago de Compostela.
Using as a basis Paulo Coelho’s own statements, the history pervades the most striking moments of the life of the author, as the traumas, the relationship with drugs and religion, sexuality and the partnership with musician Raul Seixas.
OMTimes Interview with Daniel Augusto, Director of The Pilgrim, The Best Story of Paulo Coelho
OMTimes interviewed Daniel Augusto- Director “The Pilgrim, The Best Story of Paulo Coelho” for the Illuminate Film Festival, happening this month of May in Sedona Arizona.
OMTimes: What was the primary motivation behind the making of this movie?
Daniel Augusto: I was very young when I have heard the name of Paulo Coelho for the first time. He wrote songs for a famous Brazilian rock singer and I received as a gift, one of their records when I was only five years old. This was the first Record (long Player) that I had in my life. I listened to his songs a lot during my youth. Later, when I was about fifteen years old, Paulo Coelho became a famous writer. When the screenwriter and producer Carolina Kotscho invited me to direct the film, I was especially motivated to show the background of the man (Paulo Coelho) before he became the internationally famous writer.
OMTimes: What was the biggest challenge you faced in the materialization of the entire production?
Daniel Augusto: The biggest challenge was to show the human being behind the myth that every famous person has around himself. I think that the film shows his virtues and defects, like a problematic hero that faces the problems the world puts in front of him. He became a famous rock lyricist during the 70s, was arrested by the Brazilian dictatorship, he used illegal drugs, his father committed him into a mental institution when he was only a teenager. His famous books were refused by editors, among others things that made his life really unusual.
