North east Brazil, State of Pernanbuco. We are in one of the poorest and most needy areas of the city of Recife, the Pina favela. This is where the film takes place, a film that recounts the story of Ricardo Gomes Ferraz, aged 35, better known as KCal.
The favela is spread along the edges of the river. Kcal, poet and musician, has turned his house, a lake-dwelling suspended over the water, into a library for the children of his community.
Sacrificing his few resources, for over 15 years, he has bought second-hand books in dozens of different places all over the city. The library has become a meeting place for hundreds of children and adults, a place where dreaming is not forbidden, where imagination can fly to places very different from the favela.
Drugs and prostitution constantly menace daily existence. At the age of 16, a book found by chance, “ A MAO E A LUVA” by Machado de Assis, transformed Kcal’s life. From that day Kcal has not ever stopped feeding himself on culture and passing it on to his children.
On 25th March 2008, this man, who defines himself as “A dealer in books”, received an esteemed award in recognition of his work over the years: this award, “Faz Diferenca” in the category “social services” is the same that Lujiz Inacioa da Silva, now President of Brazil, received in 2003. In April 2009, the Minister of Culture in Brazil, Juca Ferreira, recognized the importance of the work done by Ricardo Gomes Ferraz.
Thus a government project has evolved which has seen the opening of many libraries in the favelas. From the “Livroteca Os Guardioes” founded by Kcal, today another 514 libraries are functioning all over Brazil.