“What is the problem with a wine being imperfect. Have you ever met someone who is perfect? Life is imperfect!”

Isabel (a mesmerizing Marina Person) is a top-class sommelière at a Michelin-starred restaurant in São Paulo, Brazil where she works under her unsympathetic boss Tommaso (Marat Descartes).  He has become increasing conservative in his attitude to wines and ‘rejects’ many that she would like to promote. In particular, wines made in Brazil by small local producers that could be called ‘natural’ wines. 

Fed up with all her efforts only going towards boost his credentials while her talents are lost in transit, she decides she must do something for herself and realize her dream of opening a small wine bar for herself that specializes in local wines.  But talent alone might not be enough to make these dreams come true, and Isabel is about to discover that ‘life is unfair.’ A sensitive and talented wine specialist however, Isabel likes to work out an individual’s favourite wines by sussing out their preferences in music. It turns out to be an elegant method that works well, but can she attract the investment that she will need for her bar to be a success?

Isabel lures her colleague Nico (Caio Horowicz) to help in her venture without being entirely truthful about the source of her funding.  Meanwhile, her mother frets that a bar in Brazil that only sells wine with no beers or caipirinhas has no hope of success. Her father, on the other hand is more supportive, believing she must try to realize her dreams, knowing he was never able to do so himself.

Klinger directed the cinematographer Flora Dias to shoot the film in 16mm  film stock  that adds a feel of authenticity. This comes up in the film texture, and also in the way the depth-of-field is experienced in 16mm film, as opposed to video, adding a layer of perspective to the image.

Gabe Klinger the writer/ director

Born in São Paulo, Gage Klinger worked as a Film Studies professor, critic and programmer before he got into making his own films.  His first debut feature PORTO (2016) with Anton Yelchin and Lucie Lucas, is a charming story about a couple trying to relive a powerful brief connection they once had, uninhibited by any consequences.

John Ortiz as Pat and Marina Person as Isabel

Gabe Klinger admits that in 'Isabel,' there is an autobiographical element, as right after the pandemic, he toyed with the idea of opening exactly such a bar also specializing in wines.  

“Isabel is a film about a woman who wants to open her own wine bar in the city of São Paulo.  It also deals with the industrialization that came with the covid pandemic: when everything became more industrialized because everyone was stuck in the homes depending on the virtual world.  My idea was to have a bar to coincide with the moment that the world  would begin to re-open again and people would feel the need to re-connect and talk to each other. That is how the idea emerged! 

What I wanted to express with this film is that there still are spaces for these small actually ‘physical’ places, not only those on the internet, or led by large corporations. That there is still space in society for small shops and creative spaces where people can talk to one another, drink wine and chat about culture and democracy… or the lack of it! The politicians and the bosses of the huge technological companies are dominating the world and it’s very scary… I wanted to create a story about a woman who opens a wine bar in her neighbourhood.  It’s important, especially when you reflect on what is happening in the world, with so many small mundane things. In the end, they’re the most important: the daily communication of everyday life, much like in the films of the Japanese director Yasujiró Ozu (1903-1963), or Mike Leigh, the English director, in histories of ordinary people, not millionaires or celebrities. I loved Mike Leigh’s last movie: ‘Tender Loving Care’ 2026- so tender and human “.

The autobiographical element also applies to the co-writer and protagonist Marina Person   who, coincidentally, had also dreamed about opening a wine bar, so the whole process in the movie came naturally to her.

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep" (Shakespeare)-

                                                                            Marat Descartes as Tommaso

Klinger reveals that, as a child, he had many dreams himself and had the good fortune to be born into a very creative family. From his father’s side, his relatives were artists and from a very young age he had access to people who were busy with creative and intellectual activities. He had the opportunity to watch films, read books and learn about art. So, it is unsurprising that barely a teenager, Klinger had already begun dreaming of making his own films.

“When I was 13-years old, I began to think that I might be able to have an interesting life in the world of cinema. I read a book about François Truffaut, and he also began really young in Paris, with André Bazin and I felt I wanted to follow the same path.”

André Bazin was hugely influential. He founded the Cahiers du Cinema magazine and his humanistic approach shaped modern film studies with his auteur theories and contact with the French New Wave.  

                                                                                     Caio Horowicz as Nico

But, what does Gage Klinger dream about today? 

“To continue to make small, intimate films, like Mike Leigh is also making, with a great deal of freedom.”

Klinger admits nevertheless, that he has got an historical project set in São Paulo in the 1920s on the back burner, that he would like to make someday, but insists that even period films do not have to be grandiose, they can also be modest and intimate.

‘Isabel’ burns true to these ideals. It follows Isabel on her journey as she tries to make her dream come true, meeting new friends on the way and finding old ones. some that are supportive and some antagonistic, like her ex- boss who continues to try to malign her. This is a warm, accessible film and Isabel will survive to live for another day even if her mother knocks her imaginative ideas:  

 “Dreams are selfish, my child.” 

‘ISABEL’ (2026) BY BRAZILIAN DIRECTOR GABE KLINGER

 Screened at the 2026 BFI London Film Festival in the ‘Journey Strand’.

Directed by Gabe Klinger / Written by Gabe Klinger and Marina Person/ Producers: Rodrigo Teixeira/ Michael Richter/ Giovanni Labadessa, Berta Marchiori, Laila Pas and João Pereira- Webber / Composer: Umberto Smerilli/ DOP Flora Dias/ Editor: Gabe Klinger/ Production Design: Luiza Conde / Sound Editor: Mathias Brelet and Fleir Breussin/ RT Pictures/ I Vision Films. Lumière Lab/ Bridging the Gap Films and A Major Production

CAST:  Marina Person as Isabel/ Caio Horowicz as Nico / Gregory Chastang as Fred / Marat Descartes as Tommaso / Clarissa Abujamra as Mother / Plínio Soares as Father / Michelle Ellyse as Meredith / Giovanna Nader as Carlota / John Ortiz as Pat   /

The credits also mention all the Brazilian producers that appear in the film. These include Vinicola Lorenzo, Bellaquinta and Vinhos Artesanais Vanessa Medin among many more.

Porto (2016) by Gabe Klinger review:  https://latinolife.co.uk/articles/porto-dir-gabe-klinger