If you want a journey off the beaten tracks, there is no better choice than this. To quote Roger Ebert the film "takes us on a journey to new and unexpected cinematic destinations". Brazil and Berlin are two of my favourites places so Futuro Beach seemed the right film for me. The fact it was part of the Berlinale programming was a another good reason to watch it. Festival films always surprise me. And this was a good surprise. This three parts story takes you from Brazil to Germany, from sunny landscapes to a cold wintery city but also through the moods and emotions of the characters.The themes of exil, isolation and immigration are well portrayed through strong visual storystelling rather than action or dialogues. The beautifully shot scenes speak for themselves. The music helps set the mood and I enjoyed every piece of music from the French hit by Christophe (which resonated with me as being French and having danced to it many times myself ) to David Bowie 's hero over the closing credit via the melancholy score by German composeer Hauschka . I read that director Aïnouz, who was born in Brazil and now lives in Berlin, found inspiration in Fassbinder’s “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul" (another film I need to check out). To me what comes to mind first is Fatih Akin's movies "Head On" or "The Edge of Heaven", which share a similar theme, style and atmosphere and this is another good reason to watch it.