A Cor do Chão (The Color of the Ground)
Format: Feature Film
Target Audience: General Audience
Genre: Social Thriller / Drama
Current Status: In Development
Length: 90 min
On Mother's Day, the mysterious disappearance of two children shocks a small countryside town.
On one side is 9-year-old Pina, a wealthy white girl neglected by an emotionally absent family. On the other is Leo, also 9, a poor Black boy raised with the profound love of his grandmother.
As the search mobilizes public opinion, old secrets come to light and the investigation takes a tense turn, fragmenting families and exposing the cracks in society.
Between memories of the past and traces of the final hours before they vanished, The Color of the Ground reveals how structural racism and inequality distort the perception of grief. While the affection that sustains Leo's life is summarily ignored, the neglect surrounding Pina remains invisible.
When loss strikes, does justice truly exist for everyone?
The Sampaio Family
CONSTANTINO
(Paulo Matos)
PINA
(Joana Bretas)
ADOLFO
(Josué Galinari)
ISABEL
(Daniela Paschoal)
Adolfo and Isabel are a family of appearances: a modern apartment, status, and comfort that hide the emotional emptiness Pina grows up in.
Isabel, cold and distant, treats her daughter with contempt; Adolfo compensates with excessive protection. It's in her grandfather Constantino that Pina finds the only real affection she knows. Behind the perfect image lives a silence that hurts.
The Silva Family
Dona Ivone
(Teka Pereira)
LEO
(Heitor Nemeth)
JOSÉ
(Levi Asaf)
Dona Ivone raises her grandsons Leo and José after their mother, Luisa, leaves for the capital, holding the household together with little money and abundant love.
Leo dreams of becoming a pianist and finds his own refuge by the river. When he disappears, the family faces not only the pain of loss but the indifference of a society that fails to see them.
Two banks, the same water, different silences.
RONALDO SANTIAGO - DIRECTOR
Ronaldo Santiago is a film director and producer whose path into cinema began through the Paulínia Film Hub, where he specialized in screenwriting and directing workshops. He deepened his craft at Cristal Filmes and DRC São Paulo, training in directing-adjacent skills such as editing and cinematography — tools that inform his visual language behind the camera. As co-founder of Ethos Filmes, he has directed a body of work spanning three short films, two documentaries, and one fiction feature, developing a directorial style grounded in a systemic understanding of the full production process, from script to screen.
WORKS
CÂNDIDO (2021) Feature Film
ETHOS Filmes - Director of Photography and Editor
O OPOSTO DO MAL É O BELO (2018) Feature Film
ETHOS Filmes - Director, Screenwriter, and Editor.
PRA QUEM TEM AMIGOS (2015) Short Film
ETHOS Filmes - Director, Screenwriter, and Editor
PAPEL DA INFÂNCIA (2014) Short Film
Ethos Filmes - Director, Screenwriter, and Editor
GOTA D’ÁGUA (2013) Short Film
Cristal Filmes - Director and Editor.
QUATRO QUARTOS (2018) Feature Film
Ethos Filmes - Executive Producer
RENATA SUNEGA - PRODUCER
Renata Sunega is a producer, director, and screenwriter, and founder of Renata Sunega Studio de Criação (Amora Brava). With a background in Architecture and a Master's in Art History from Unicamp, she began her producing career as executive producer of the feature "O Crime da Cabra" (2016) and the documentary "Cândido" (2021, Ethos Filmes). As a creator, she developed projects backed by public cultural grants and produced the award-winning short "Rabisco," distributed internationally across festivals in Bogotá, Málaga, and beyond. She has represented her work in major industry markets, including missions to China and France and business rounds at Rio2C, MAX Minas, and the Marché du Film in Cannes.
WORKS
RABISCO (2024) Short Film
Renata Sunega Studio de Criação - Direction, Producer and Screenplay
ECOCINE - International Film Festival (2024)
TAO Produções - Administrative and Financial Direction
CÂNDIDO (2021) Feature Film
ETHOS Filmes - Executive Production
O CRIME DA CABRA (2017) Feature Film
TAO Produções - Executive Production
Creation
AVENTURAS EM VAN-PUDIM (2021)
Children's animated series
OS ENIGMAS DE MARIA (2022)
Children's animated series
