Carlos Segundo’s debut film ‘Leite em Pó’ debuts at Gramado

Carlos Segundo’s debut feature film, ‘Leite em Pó’, has emerged as a significant and complex entry in the official competition at the Gramado Film Festival. The film follows Vicente, played by Vinícius de Oliveira, a 40-year-old alternative rock musician living in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. After a family tragedy involving the suspicious death of his grandmother, Vicente is forced out of his comfort zone and begins working as a seller of graduation photo albums.

The narrative is described as non-linear and enigmatic, functioning more like a collage of dissonant units than a traditional story. Set against the backdrop of Natal—a city with historical ties to United States military bases during World War II—the film explores themes of loneliness, loss, and lack of belonging. Segundo, who previously received acclaim for short films such as ‘Sideral’ and ‘Big Bang’, utilizes the dichotomy of Natal’s sunny coastal atmosphere and its darker, more somber spaces to drive the film’s intimate and non-Cartesian semiotics.