The Middle of the World is a road movie on bicycles. It is freely adapted from the true story of an unemployed truck driver who, with his wife and five children, pedals from Paraba, in the poverty-stricken Northeast of Brazil, all the way to Rio de Janeiro looking for a job. Romo (the father) feels destined to earn 1000 reais (about 300 US$) a month a vast sum for Brazilian standards. On four bikes, the family goes through five states, knows solidarity and indifference, aggressiveness and cordiality. A 2000-mile odyssey through the hinterlands of Brazil all the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's best-known postcard. The Middle of the World shows the quest for the dream of a decent life a story of dreams and hope.

A father desperate to improve his family's circumstances takes them on an unusual journey in this drama from Brazil. Rom??o (Wagner Moura) is a truck driver who has fallen on hard times; illiterate and unable to find work at a living wage, Rom??o and his wife, Rose (Cl??udia Abreu), decide to leave the Northwestern provinces of Brazil and head east for Rio de Janeiro, which is 2,000 miles away. With no vehicle at their disposal, Rom??o, Rose, and their five children make the journey on bicycles. Along the way, they face physical and emotional hardship and bear witness to the many ways in which the nation they knew is changing. Rom??o also finds himself coming to a crossroads with his oldest son, Ant??nio (Ravi Ramos Lacerda), a teenager who has become openly defiant of his parents. O Caminho das Nuvens (aka The Middle of the World) was the first dramatic feature from documentary filmmaker Vincente Amorim. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi