Communiqué
Filmmaker reckons with Brazil’s inequality when learning unhoused people occupy her father’s “Skin of Glass” on INDEPENDENT LENS – Feb. 17 at 10pm
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“Skin of Glass”
Monday, February 17 at 10:00 pm
When Brazilian-American filmmaker Denise Zmekhol discovers that her late father’s most celebrated work as an architect is now São Paulo’s tallest homeless occupation, she begins a journey to reckon with her past and the harsh inequality transforming the country of her birth. Her initially personal quest forces her to face a growing global crisis: one in six people in the world are squatters.
The film evolves as a poetic essay on displacement, the concept of home, and the role of architecture in urban life.
A modernist icon affectionately known as “Pele de Vidro” (Skin of Glass), the building itself becomes a central character. Roger Zmekhol, a Syrian immigrant to Brazil, was just 32 years old when he designed it. Conceived in the vibrant era of Bossa Nova and Cinema Novo, it was built in the early days of a dictatorship that would hold power for two decades.
Ultimately, through in-depth interactions with the homeless who occupied her father’s building, Denise starts to see Pele de Vidro from a larger perspective. The dramatic changes that transform the building reflect Brazil itself during eras of darkness, transformation, and rebirth. The film builds a searing portrait of a country in crisis through the personal story of a father and daughter and the built environment of São Paulo where their lives, memories, and dreams overlap.