The hardships of a Brazilian immigrant family living in Boston illegally are the subject of Identidade, also known as ID, an independent film directed by Alex Ferro, which will be screened at the SCATV studio (90 Union Square) on Thursday, February 24 at 7 p.m.

By Ashley Taylor

You need an ID to drive, to drink, and to smoke. What those born in the U.S. can take for granted is that you also need an ID—be it a social security number, visa, or green card—to live and work here. The hardships of a Brazilian immigrant family living in Boston illegally are the subject of Identidade, also known as ID, an independent film directed by Alex Ferro, which will be screened at the SCATV studio (90 Union Square) on Thursday, February 24 at 7 p.m.

The free screening is part of the Somerville Arts Council’s ArtsUnion 2011 Winter Series, which highlights art in Union Square.  A panel discussion at SCATV will follow the screening, and there will be an after party at Zona Sul (formerly Café Belô), a Brazilian restaurant featured in the film. The film is in Portuguese with English subtitles.

ID is the story of an immigrant family’s struggles against home foreclosure, unemployment, and lack of documents granting legal status. The father, Joao (Robson Lemos) is unemployed and cannot find a good job without an ID.   The mother, Ana (Eloise Hanson), supports the family by singing at Café Belô.

The bank is about to foreclose on their large, well-furnished house. Financial stress sparks frequent arguments between the two parents. Meanwhile, the teenage daughter, Clara (Paola Tristan), enters an essay contest whose theme is identity and realizes that hers is unclear:  she feels disconnected from her birthplace, Brazil, yet she speaks Portuguese, wears hoop earrings, and loves dulce de leche. While Clara searches for conceptual identity, Joao struggles with the limits of life without a physical ID.

This is a low-budget, independent film: Ferro said that the cost of renting a 35-mm camera for one day would equal the entire budget of the film. Nobody was paid to work on the film. Eduardo Hollerbach lent his video equipment to the project. The film’s sponsors include the former Café Belô (now Zona Sul) and the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers.

“If you want to do something without money, you have to work with people who are passionate,” Ferro commented.

In cast, setting, and subject, the film has ties to Somerville.

The main actor, screenwriter, and producer, Robson Lemos, is a Somerville resident, as is actress Eloise Hanson.

The film includes footage from Somerville, Arlington, Everett, and Beverly, yet the exact setting is unspecified in order, Ferro said, to make it feel universal.  The film could well be set in East Somerville or Winter Hill, home to many Brazilian immigrants, where Brazilian restaurants and convenience stores line Broadway.

This will not be the film’s first screening, but it will be the first panel discussion about the film and one of the first screenings outside the Brazilian community.  Marcelo Zicker, who is organizing the event with the Somerville Arts Council, called the screening, “a good opportunity to get the word out the Americans, to make them think about how the story is related to millions of others.”