THE COWGIRL, THE SHOWGIRL AND THE PIG

STELLA CARNEIRO
Stella Carneiro highlights that the greatest lesson from this process was the power of responsibility. For her, learning to be responsible, following ideas through to their core, and getting to the heart of the story became even more important aspects of film directing during her participation in La Factory. Stella comes from a part of Brazil where opportunities like this are not easily accessible to people like her. She values structure, dialogue, and Black representation on screen. Stella and her co-director Ary have very different working methods: while Ary relies on improvisation and embracing new ideas, Stella prefers to deeply explore ideas that are already set in motion. According to Stella, this duality allowed them to create something special. They started with a western, a well-known film genre, and flipped it on its head. Together, they shared a vision and created something that went beyond themselves and their expectations.

ARY ZARA
Ary Zara reflects that The Factory was a formative experience for him, much like the meaning of the name Fortaleza, the city where the program took place, which means fortress. Unlike a fortress built stone by stone for defense, Ary was shaped to trust his intuition and use his own voice. He describes The Factory as one of the most challenging programs he has participated in, where he learned valuable and unique lessons from great experts. Many of the feedback sessions and exchanges felt like informal master classes, and the entire program was like an intense, short MA in cinema. The fast pace pushed Ary to think beyond his usual limits and to question those very limits themselves. He is grateful for taking on the challenge, as it allowed him to build important connections with other cinema professionals and gain a better understanding of the Brazilian film industry, finishing the program more prepared and aware to direct his feature film.