João Victor Menezes

Luiza, a shy, awkward 15 year-old girl from Rio, dreams of being an artist. Her life is just starting to make sense when Luiza's world falls apart when her mother suffers an acute schizophrenic episode. Determined to hold her family together, Luiza must find the strength to face fear, loneliness and discrimination as she takes over the household and her mother's care.

The filme relates how a victory - winning a scholarship to an elite private school - may become an obstacle race for an impoverished young person.