TV Globo wins Gabo Award for documentary on four Brazilian youths

Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo has received the prestigious Gabo Award in the Image category for its documentary 'Terceirão - um ano, quatro vidas' (Third Year - One Year, Four Lives).

The award ceremony took place in Bogotá, Colombia. The winning documentary offers an intimate look at the lives of four Brazilian high school seniors as they navigate the pivotal transition from adolescence to adulthood. The film captures their experiences over the course of one year, delving into their daily lives and conversations.

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These four people taught me a lot and are in this documentary with their lives. They deserve a hug because they and their families allowed us to tell their lives and their difficult moments.

Selected from nearly 200 interviews with students from public and private schools, the four protagonists' stories are presented in a way that "navigates complex themes without losing the joy and intensity characteristic of this stage of life," according to the Gabo Foundation, which presents the awards.

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navigates complex themes without losing the joy and intensity characteristic of this stage of life

Caio Cavechini, accepting the award, expressed gratitude to the documentary's subjects and their families for allowing the filmmakers to share their lives, including difficult moments. "These four people taught me a lot and are in this documentary with their lives. They deserve a hug because they and their families allowed us to tell their lives and their difficult moments," he said.

The jury highlighted the documentary's approach, which focuses on the "challenges of education and the transformations of adolescence" not through experts or statistics, but via deep immersion. The film explores the microcosm of four schools, four students, and their diverse social environments. It emphasizes the protagonists' intimacy, accompanying them closely through everyday issues such as family, school, illness, and economics, thereby reflecting contemporary Brazilian problems.

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It is a project that seeks to talk about the challenges of education and the transformations of adolescence without resorting to specialists or statistics, but through deep immersion in the microcosm of four schools, four students and their environments, belonging to different social realities.

The Gabo Foundation commended the film for being "faithful and respectful to its central figures, avoiding infantilization and stereotyping, and opting for a calm and solid narrative." Other finalists in the Image category included the Colombian production '¿Quién quemó el bus?' and Portugal's 'Racismo, uma descolonização em curso'.

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It is a faithful and respectful documentary with its central figures, which avoids their infantilization and stereotyping by opting for a calm and solid narrative.