João, the Maestro

Oscar Wilde stated that pain was the only road to perfection. That phrase illustrates the life of João Carlos Martins, a Brazilian pianist who, after achieving a successful music career, had to struggle with health issues that threatened to end it. João, el maestro follows the footsteps of this character, from his difficult childhood to an adulthood in which his body is split between the pleasure of feeling the vibration of applause and the maladies that prevent him from caressing the instrument’s keys. (Mar del Plata International Film Festival)