Rodrigo Lombardi To Star In José Eduardo Belmonte’s ‘Em Suas Mãos’

EXCLUSIVE: Brazilian director José Eduardo Belmonte and actor Rodrigo Lombardi are re-teaming for Em Suas Mãos (In Your Fingers). The New York-set indie film follows two Brazilian immigrants residing in New York who’re hellbent on revenge after a member of the family is killed and the perpetrator goes unpunished

Belmonte and Lombardi beforehand labored collectively on award-winning Brazilian drama Carcereiros (Jailers). The Globo collection scooped the Grand Jury Award on the MIPDrama occasion in Cannes again in 2017.

Belmonte unpacked the backstory to his new venture. “In 2018, we had been residing by way of an explosion of hatred and division, which drastically intrigued me,” he advised Deadline.

“Through the pandemic, I reached out to screenwriter and adjunct professor at Columbia, Fábio Andrade, and collectively we developed a narrative about revenge. Fábio introduced numerous his expertise as a Brazilian in New York.”

Em Suas Mãos can be shot principally in English, with some scenes in Portuguese or Spanish. “The movie is about revenge in a divided world the place religion in establishments has been misplaced,” Belmonte mentioned. “It additionally offers with immigration, relations between the Americas and, sure, it talks about household.”

Belmonte’s Filmes do Impossível and Marcelo Maia’s Republica Pureza Filmes are the banners behind the film with H2O Movies as a coproducer. 

Lombardi performed a correctional officer within the widespread Brazilian collection Jailers, which was impressed by the eponymous Dráuzio Varela novel. He has additionally been a choose on the Brazilian version of The Masked Singer.

“Rodrigo was the actor I labored with probably the most on set,” Belmonte mentioned of his time as a director throughout two seasons of Jailers over a span of just about three years.

“We received to know one another nicely and established a inventive partnership. After the collection, we thought so much about working collectively once more, however in a extra intimate setting. Now, there’s additionally the problem of performing in a language that’s not his personal.”

Filming on Em Suas Mãos is ready for later this yr.