I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You

José Renato, a 35-year-old geologist, is sent on a field trip to the Sertão, a semi-arid isolated region in the Northeast of Brazil. The goal of his survey is to assess possible routes for a canal from the region’s only large river. For many of the region’s inhabitants, the canal will be a lifeline, the chance of a future and source of hope. But for those living on the canal’s direct course, it means departure and loss. Many of the properties through which José Renato passes will be flooded; many of the people and families will be relocated. As the field trip progresses, we sense that José Renato has something in common with the places he visits: emptiness, a sense of abandonment and isolation. Little by little we discover that he too has been abandoned by his partner. The desolation of the landscape seems to echo in José Renato, making the trip increasingly difficult. But he presses ahead, continuing the trip in hope that the crossing can somehow transmute his feelings. FiGa Films