Lucas Estevan Soares (born 24 July 1990) is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and musician. He is active in the area of independent cinema, both in Brazil and abroad, and is known for the films ''Independent Roads'' (2012) and '' Neon Heart'' (2023).

Early life

Lucas Estevan Soares was born in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

in 1990, and spent his childhood and adolescence in Boqueirão, one of the largest

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

of the capital of

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

. In 2007 he began his acting career, joined the theater company Teatratividade and acted in several theater shows in Brazil.

Career

Soares moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 2009 and entered the Filmmaking Program at

Estácio de Sá University Estácio de Sá University or Universidade Estácio de Sá (UNESA) is a private university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after the Portuguese knight and military officer Estácio de Sá, who was the founder of the city of Rio de Janeiro ...

. The following year he directed and scripted his first films: ''Kabbalah'', an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

mid-length, and the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s ''Absence of Us'' and ''Terminal 2'' (subsequently renamed to ''The Airport Date''). With them he participated in local festivals and international festivals such as the Arouca Film Festival 2012 in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and Très Court International Film Festival 2013 in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Independent Roads

In 2011, Soares

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the United States. In Los Angeles he filmed ''Passports and Dreams'', with actors of 10 nationalities and spoken in 5 languages, in which the director and screenwriter also participated as an actor. He received a job offer to work in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, he accepted and moved to Asia. In Southeast Asia he directed ''Ends Meat'' (in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

), ''Bojou'' (

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Japan) and the documentary ''From a New Fernando to Brazil'' (

Phi Phi Islands The Phi Phi Islands (, , ) are an island group in Thailand between the large island of Krabi Province, Krabi and the Straits of Malacca coast of Thailand. The islands are administratively part of Krabi Province. Ko Phi Phi Don (, ) (''ko'' 'isl ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

). In Oceania (

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

), he filmed ''Allegories of Us'', in which he is the main lead actor. In Europe, Soares was cast in the film ''Special Delivery'', shot in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, by the director Andrea Traina. For his performance he won the award for "Best Short Film Actor" at the Premio Nazionale Musa D'Argento, held in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in 2016. Lucas Estevan Soares gathered the works ''Absence of Us'', ''The Airport Date'', ''Passports and Dreams'', ''Ends Meat'', ''Bojou'', ''From a New Fernando to Brazil'' and ''Allegories of Us'' and released a new product, entitled ''Independent Roads''. Between 2012 and 2013 he traveled to countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America showing his films and sharing his ideas and experiences regarding independent cinema in various exhibitions and festivals such as the 56th Café Com Filmes (CCFilmes 2012), in

, the 10th Oberá en Cortos Film Festival, in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and the 12th Mostra do Filme Livre (MFL 2013), in Brazil.

International House of Cinema

In October 2012, Soares founded in

the

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

company International House of Cinema (IHC). He began producing commercial videos and collaborating with local musicians. He married Rhaissa Gonçalves in 2014, who became his partner in IHC and also shares with Soares the function of film producer. Two years later IHC launched the short film ''Special Delivery'', which earned Soares the award for "Best Short Film Actor" at the Premio Nazionale Musa D'Argento 2016, and the documentary ''Café em Leves Devaneios''. In 2017 they installed in Miami the second HQ of IHC and released two short films directed by Soares in 2011: ''Twisted Lines'', filmed in New York City, and ''Portraits in the Water'', shot in Singapore. In 2021 IHC created a

film distribution Film distribution, also called film exhibition or film distribution and exhibition, is the process of making a film available for viewing to an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketin ...

company to mainly market its own productions.

Neon Heart

The repercussion of the music video "# Boquera", released in 2018, motivated the beginning of work on an idea that emerged in 2014, the production of a feature film with a singing telegram service car in the center of the plot and the Boqueirão neighborhood as a background. The film, funded with resources from IHC (without support from public and tax incentive programs) in ''

guerrilla filmmaking Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. The genre is named in reference to guerrill ...

'' style, was recorded in late 2019, with

post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...

taking place the following year, already during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2022, Soares' first feature, who in addition to directing, scripting and acting also composed and participated in the production of the film and the soundtrack, toured the national and international circuit of film festivals, being well received by general

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

(including being called in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

"great example of the new Brazilian popular cinema") and awarded in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and Brazil. ''Neon Heart'' made its debut on the Brazilian commercial circuit on 9 March 2023.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Lucas Estevan 1990 births Living people People from Curitiba Brazilian film directors Brazilian screenwriters Brazilian male screenwriters Brazilian film producers Brazilian film actors Brazilian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Brazilian male musicians