How Agricultural Violence on the Brazil-Uruguay Border Inspired Giovani Borba’s 21st Century Western ‘Empty House’
Jamie Lang Director Giovani Borba’s “Empty House,” produced by Tatiana Sager at Brazil’s Panda Filmes, stands out among this year’s packed Sanfic Industria Work in Progress sidebar, not so much for its unique proposition – there are at least two other films which share many of its neo-Western sensibilities – but for its execution and exceptional visuals.Set against the seemingly endless plains along the Brazil-Uruguay border, Borba paints a deft picture of the encroachment of industrialization that has long inspired the Western genre.