Following the election of a far-right president, one Afro-Brazilian family takes stock while its youngest member dreams of outer space.

The Martins are a working-class Black family living on the outskirts of one of Brazil’s major cities. Mother Tércia works as a housekeeper to keep a roof over their heads, but her husband, Wellington, is banking on their youngest, Deivinho, becoming a soccer star. But what Deivinho really wants is to become an astrophysicist. Meanwhile, elder daughter Eunice starts dating and ponders whether she should move out. When the conservative Jair Bolsonaro comes to power, the family must find hope and tenderness as upheaval splinters the country.

Despite its political backdrop, writer/director Gabriel Martins’s Sundance-premiering third feature is full of uplifting warmth: for young Deivinho, who dreams of colonising Mars, the red planet is an optimistic metaphor for what lies beyond his station. Winner of the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Audience Award, this charming and thoroughly crowd-pleasing drama shows us that, amid the darkness, the light of the stars can be rivalled by that within our loved ones and ourselves.

“A delightful, joyous celebration of the unbreakable bonds that keep us tethered through the most challenging of times – be they political or personal.” – The Mercury News