Gretchen Road Movie

"I'm not a politician. I'm a regular woman, just like you," Gretchen exhorts her listeners. After 30 years as the Brazilian queen of the hip swingers, this nationally famous singer has decided it's time for a career switch, and she's making a bid for mayor of the island of Itamaraca. Her career as a performing artist is on its last legs, and nowadays she only performs in small circus tents to sometimes less than enthusiastic audiences. As a budding politician, however, she is very ambitious. Time and time again, we hear her sacred mantra: "I'm not a politician, I speak the same language you do." And the more often we hear it, the less convincing it sounds. The dynamic, but sometimes slowed down shots of the election campaign and her final series of performances are interspersed with scenes of passing landscapes accompanied by voice-overs from the filmmakers, who share their thoughts about 30 years of Gretchen. And it suits her just fine that a documentary is being made about her - just think of the free publicity the camera crew is providing to her campaign. Or is it the crew that is taking advantage of Gretchen? (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)