Karim Aïnouz Premieres I Travel Because [...] in NYC.

By Rodrigo Brandao

Speaking to a crowded theater on the opening day (March 25, 2011) of his (and Marcelo Gomes’) latest film, Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz (Madame Satã, and Love for Sale) shared some of the stories behind the making of the fictional/experimental narrative I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You (2010).

Anthology Curator Jed Rapfogel (left) and Director Karim Ainouz.

After dedicating two years of his life to producing and directing an original HBO series in Brazil, named Alice, Aïnouz decided to “take a break” and go back to the footage that he and Mr. Gomes captured together on a road trip in 1999, and make a more playful and lyrical narrative film. “When you are doing classic feature narrative films, even if you’re playful with them, they really start from a written object,” says Aïnouz. “So this film [allows me] to have a different space to play with images and sounds, and the narrative is almost like an alibi, an excuse to make this film.”

Time Out NY film critic Alison Wilmore gave the film five stars (out of five), and wrote that “the movie’s true brilliance comes from its portrayal of how the world curls around you in the grip of heartache—every song on the radio, every face you see, every story you’re told reflecting only what you’ve lost.”

I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You plays from March 25, 2011, until Thursday, March 31, at Anthology Film Archives in New York City.

For more information about the film, visit FiGa Films‘ web site.