O Filho da Puta (Son of A Bitch)
Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, and Sávio Leite | Brazil | 2D Computer | 2026
Rating: Mature
ByTowne Cinema
Friday, September 25, 7:00 pm
Ottawa Art Gallery: Alma Duncan Salon
Before Ismael has much chance to decide who he is, the village has already decided for him. His mother runs Casa Rosa, the local brothel in Veredas, and he is known simply as the “son of a bitch”—less a nickname than a sentence passed down on him. Carrying a copy of Moby-Dick, the only link to the father he has never known, he sets out across the Brazilian backlands with Bacalhau, his three-legged dog. He is searching for a parent, for the sea, and for a life beyond the identity others have imposed upon him.
A road movie on foot, Son of a Bitch turns familiar ingredients—a boy, a dog, a missing father, a literary talisman—into something earthy, rude, comic, painful, and unexpectedly tender. Its raw hand-drawn animation rejects polish in favour of bodies marked by heat, hunger, shame, desire, and stubborn survival. Strong reds, yellows, blues, and other saturated tones push the film’s emotional temperature, marking each shift in Ismael’s journey.
Harsh without contempt and grotesque without cruelty, the film finds poetry in dirt, damaged families, and compromised lives. Like its hero, it advances slowly, stubbornly, and with purpose. (Chris Robinson)
FR
Ismael hérite d’une insulte avant même d’avoir eu le temps de devenir quelqu’un d’autre. Dans le village de Veredas, sa mère tient la Casa Rosa, la maison close locale, et c’est pour cette raison qu’on le connaît simplement comme le « fils de pute ». Moins un surnom qu’un verdict, cette étiquette le pousse à traverser le sertão avec Bacalhau, son chien à trois pattes, et un exemplaire de Moby-Dick — seule trace du père qu’il n’a jamais connu. Sa quête est celle d’un parent, de la mer, et d’une vie échappant enfin au récit que les autres ont écrit pour lui.
Un « road movie » à pied, Son of a Bitch transforme des éléments familiers — un garçon, un chien, un père absent, un talisman littéraire — en une œuvre terreuse, grossière, drôle, douloureuse et parfois étonnamment tendre. Son animation brute, dessinée à la main, refuse le poli au profit de corps marqués par la chaleur, la faim, la honte, le désir et une survie obstinée. Les rouges, jaunes, bleus et autres couleurs saturées font monter la température émotionnelle du film, accompagnant chaque étape du parcours d’Ismael.
Dur sans mépris et grotesque sans cruauté, le film trouve de la poésie dans la saleté, les familles abîmées et les vies compromises. Comme son héros, il avance lentement, obstinément, et avec détermination. (Chris Robinson)
Erica Maradona (Brazil, 1990). Visual artist, Bachelor of Social Communication and partner at the production company Otto Desenhos Animados. Responsible for adapting the classic Brazilian comic strip “Rocky & Hudson: The Gay Cowboys” into a TV series, which won the 2021 Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro in the Best Animated Series category. She was assistant director of the feature film City of Pirates, winner of Best Film, among others, at the Havana International Film Festival in 2019.
Tania Anaya holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in Fine Arts and a degree in animation from the Núcleo de Cinema de Animação, a Brazil/Canada Cooperation Program. Working with drawing and audiovisual production, she has directed several short films, commercials and documentaries. Tania recently released her first feature film, Nimuendajú, a animated feature film, that made its debut in the Official Selection of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2025.
Otto Guerra is a Brazilian filmmaker, animator, and screenwriter, who’s considered one of the pioneers of independent animation in Brazil. He is the founder of Otto Desenhos Animados, a production company based in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with nearly 50 years of experience. His works are mainly aimed at adult audiences and often adapted from Brazilian comic books. Since 2020, he has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Sávio Leite (Brazil, 1971) studied Communication and holds a Master’s degree in Visual Arts. He is a short-film director and animation professor. His films have been screened and awarded at festivals worldwide. Four-time nominee for the Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro, he won Best Animated Short in 2018. He is co-founder of the Timeline Video Art Festival and the Múmia Animation Festival, and editor and translator of books on Brazilian animation.