This adaptation of João Guimarães Rosa’s Campo Geral is a calm, reflective and tender ode to a child’s loss of innocence. Ten-year-old Thiago lives with his family on an isolated farm in Minas Gerais, Brazil (Mutum is the name of the remote area in the Sertão, but it also refers to someone who does not talk). Unaware that he is nearsighted, Thiago is only interested in what is within reach. But his sensitivity allows him to see the emotional displays around him with painful clarity. Separations and betrayals force him to slowly develop a new awareness of the complexity of human relationships, while his bedtime conversations with his brother reveal a fresh curiosity about life’s serious questions. Kogut captures their innocence with playful solemnity, and her plotting of the story allows us to see the landscape surrounding Thiago just as it reveals itself to him in unexpected ways.