We are kicking off a month of shows discussing the Cinema Novo movement from Brazil with a look at Nelson Pereira dos Santos’s 1963 film Vidas Secas. Also known as Barren Lives, the film is based on a 1938 novel by Graciliano Ramos. It’s the story of a family trying to survive in the scraggly countryside of Northeast Brazil. We join them as they search for a place to live, a way to put food on their table, and how to make enough money to buy a leather bed.

Chris Stachiw and Trevor Gumbel join Mike to try and unpack this "First Wave" Cinema Novo film.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices