Meet Carolina and Ricardo

Publicity still 'A Floresta das Almas Perdidas'

New publicity still for our feature film «The Forest of Lost Souls», featuring the two main characters: Carolina and Ricardo (as portrayed by Daniela Love and Jorge Mota).

"The lush undergrowth of The Forest of the Lost Souls cloaks manifolds secrets and stories of despair. The forest is Portugal’s most popular haven for victims of, and those contemplating, suicide.

 One summer morning, two strangers who have lost all hope in life enter the forest to escape, but find each other instead.  Ricardo (Jorge Mota) is an old and weary man. After his daughter Irene (Lilia Lopes) fell victim to a romantic pact gone wrong, she took her life in the glacial lake deep within the forest. Carolina (Daniela Love), an unstable hipster who finds fun in morbidity and death, befriends the man.  

Briefly distracted from committing suicide, they explore The Forest of the Lost Souls and the secrets it holds together. Dishonesty between the new friends leads them to discover darker, more terrifying secrets instead." Overview by Arielle Terpstra in splatsofblood.com

Interview article on Filmdoo

Filmdoo interviewed director José Pedro Lopes as the 2011 short «Survivalismo» is new featured in their service, and a lot of new information on «The Forest of the Lost Souls» was featured in the article. You can read it here.

The Most Beautiful Suicide of Carolina (Promo Still + Production Notes)

Daniela Love as Carolina in «The Forest of the Lost Souls»

On this promotional still from «The Forest of the Lost Souls», Carolina (Daniela Love) looks as if she’s resting. Everything about her pose — her gloved hand clutching her necklace; her gently crossed ankles; her right hand with its gracefully curved fingers — suggests that she is momentarily quiet, perhaps thinking of her plans for later in the day, or daydreaming of her beau. Or maybe not.

This is a recreation of the iconic photograph of Evelyn McHale by Robert Miles, originally published by LIFE magazine in 1947. This picture remains, seven decades later, one of the most famous portraits of suicide ever made. The woman in the photo was 23-year-old Evelyn McHale. Not much is known of her life, or of her final hours.

But beyond the mystery of Evelyn McHale’s life and death, there is the equally profound mystery of how a single photograph of a dead woman can feel so technically rich, visually compelling and—it must be said—so downright beautiful so many years after it was made. There’s a reason, after all, why she is often referred to as “the most beautiful suicide”; why Andy Warhol appropriated Wiles’ picture for his Suicide: Fallen Body (1962); why once we look, it’s so hard to look away.

For its part, LIFE magazine captioned the picture with language that veers strikingly from the poetic to the elemental: “At the bottom of Empire State Building the body of Evelyn McHale reposes calmly in grotesque bier her falling body punched into the top of a car.”

Based on the this article by Time Magazine.

Photography credit:  
Daniela Love (actress),  
Francisco Lobo (photography),  
Voodoo Vixen (buy the Beatrice Dress here)