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Justice (2004)

In Justiça, Maria Ramos puts a camera where many Brazilians have never been - a criminal courtroom in Rio de Janeiro, following the daily routine of several characters. There are those that work there every day (public attorneys, judges, and prosecutors) and those that are merely passing through (the accused). The camera is used as an instrument that sees the social theatre, the structures of power - that is to say, what is, in general, invisible to us. The corridors of the Courts of Justice, the design and layout of the courtroom, the discourse, the codes, postures - all the little visual details and sounds become relevant. The camera is always positioned for a specific scene but is not moved brusquely, in an attempt to avoid unnecessary commotion. A sign of respect, of non-intervention and not wishing to exploit. There are no interviews or statements, the camera registers what goes on in front of it.
The documentary shows the daily life in the Courts by observing hearings of relatively petty crimes: a man caught with a stolen car, another accused of complicity in theft, or young people caught carrying drugs and weapons. The filmmaker follows a little closer a public attorney, a judge/ professor in law and an accused. The sequences when judges interrogate the accused inside the courtroom are alternated with images outside of this universe (for example, the Detention Center and people in their home), which shows, therefore, that it is not closed and cyclical, but profoundly linked with the society of which it is a part, and with a direct consequence in the life of people that move through the legal corridors.

With her options clear, and unobscured by her choice for sobriety and simplicity, Maria Ramos makes it evident that, like documentary making, justice is a long war from being impartial. How and for whom the judicial system works for is the fundamental question dealt with in this film, without providing any definite answers or making preconceived judgements.
Pedro Butcher

Maria Ramos (1965) made her début in 1995 with BRASILIA, A DAY IN FEBRUARY. With her film DESI, she won the Audience Award at the 2000 IDFA and the Golden Calf for the best Dutch documentary of 2001.

This Film was made with the support of the Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund, the Filmfund of the Netherlands and the CoBO Fund.

Première January 25, 2004, International Film Festival Rotterdam.

In April 2004 Justiça was awarded the Grand Prix at the International Documentary Film Festival, Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland.
The international jury motivated her unanimous decision as follows: ' With her profoundly sharp eye, Maria Ramos displays, in a very pure form, a relentless judicial machinery, in which all actors - judges, lawyers, and naturally the accused - are prisoners themselves.'

In October 2004 Justiça was awarded the Golden Wave, for best film, at the International Womens Film Festival of Bordeaux, France.
At doclisboa 2004 (Lisbon), special mention of the international competition jury : "For the perspective without compromise or demagogy on the social destinies of Brazil".

In November 2004 Justiça was awarded the Amnesty Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film festival.
For jury report CPH:DOX : click here.

In December 2004 Justiça was awarded the Grand Prize at the Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival in Taipei.
For statement of the Jury : click here.

March 2005 : "Play-Doc award for the best documentary Atlantic section" in Tui, Spain. Play-Doc, Festival Internacional de Documentales de Tui.

August 2005 : Maria Ramos was awarded as Best Director at the Santiago Festival Internacional de Cine (Chile) with the film "Justice".

March 2006 : Dirk Vandersypen Award (Genth / Belgium).
For website Award click here.

Click here for website Justicaofilme (Brazil).

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