The Year My Parents Went on Vacation

In 1970 Brazil and the world seemed to have been turned upside-down, but the biggest worry in young 12 year-old Mauro's mind had little or nothing to do with the proliferation of military dictatorships in South America or with the Vietnam War. His biggest dream was to see Brazil become the three-time winner of the World Cup.

Mauro is at a stage in life when one moves from childhood into adolescence. He is forced to live without his parents, left-wing militants forced underground. They leave him with his grandfather. But something unexpected has happened to his grandfather and Mauro is left alone without being able to inform his parents. Shlomo, his grandfather's next-door neighbor, a solitary Jewish man and employee of the local synagogue, winds up taking care of him. The unexpected cohabitation results in a plunge into unknown worlds, from which they emerge more mature than before.

While he waits for a call from his parents, Mauro learns to face a very often harsh and painful reality. He finds himself alone and repeats the saga of his grandparents - Jewish immigrants - surviving in a new world. Mauro encounters a gallery of colorful characters including Hanna, an irreverent tom boy and street savvy girl, with an enormous talent for making bets and business deals; the pretty waitress Irene, who sparks the imagination of all the kids from the block; the Rabbi, a fan of the Corinthian soccer team, the Brazilian Italian man Italo who is involved in student demonstrations, and Edgar, the mulatto goalie of the local soccer team. With his new friends, Mauro shares his passion for soccer, his first sexual discoveries and his desire to regain the happiness suffocated by the dictatorship.

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Release Date: February 15, 2008
Genre: Art, Foreign, Comedy and Drama
Running Time: 103 min.
Distributor(s): City Lights Pictures
Tagline:
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Director(s):
Cao Hamburger

Writer(s):
Cao Hamburger - Screenplay
Cluadio Galperin - Screenplay
Braulio Mantovani - Screenplay
Cao Hamburger - Story By

Producer(s):
Caio Gullane - Executive Producer
Fabiano Gullane - Executive Producer
Sonia Hamburger - Executive Producer
Cao Hamburger - Producer
Caio Gullane - Producer
Fabiano Gullane - Producer
Fernando Meirelles - Co-Producer
Daniel Filho (II) - Co-Producer
Debora Ivanov - Associate Producer
Patrick Siaretta - Associate Producer
Paulo Ribeiro - Associate Producer

Movie Casts:
Michel Joelsas - Mauro
Germano Haiut - Shlomo
Paulo Autran - Mótel, Mauro's grandfather
Simone Spoladore - Bia - Mauro's mother
Eduardo Moreira - Daniel, Mauro's father
Caio Blat - Ítalo
Daniela Piepszyk - Hanna
Liliana Castro - Irene
Rodrigo dos Santos - Edgar
Felipe Hanna Braun - Caco
Gabriel Eric Bursztein - Bóris
Abrahão Farc - Anatol
Haim Fridman - Duda
Gérson - Himself (archive footage)
Edu Guimarães - Alfredo
Jairzinho - Himself (archive footage)
David Kullock
Sérgio Mastropasqua - Man #2
Pelé - Himself (archive footage)
Rivelino - Himself (archive footage)
João Saldanha - Himself (archive footage)
Hugueta Sendacz - Dona Eidel
Tostão - Himself (archive footage)