- Tenório, blind and four-time Paralympic champion, travels to Japan, cradle of judo. In pursuit of his seventh medal, the athlete embarks with the Brazilian Paralympic Team to train with the Japanese National Team and master Endo - an encounter between cultures and fantastic characters. Through this new challenge, in a Japan full of beauty and mystery, the film reflects on the Tenório's champion longevity - who, like Judo, continues to evolve.
- How can Antonio Tenório, aged 48, keep winning?
Believing that good encounters make great documentaries, 10 years after filming "B1" - award-winning documentary that accompanied judoka Antônio Tenório in his fourth gold medal in Beijing in 2008, director Eduardo meets Tenório for another film - now training in Japan.
In July 2018 Tenório and the Brazilian Paralympic Judo Team went to train in Japan with the Japanese Paralympic Team in preparation for the Tokyo games in 2020. In this trip we closely follow the conviviality of these athletes and investigate how it is possible for six time medalist Tenório to remain as longevous - he whose career is inseparable from the history of Paralympic sport in Brazil.
Tenório is the center of the narrative, immense, almost mythological, and protagonize the film with grace, sense of humor and sensitivity, while leading the other young Brazilian athletes. His experience dialogues with the freshness of our National Team. Respected and honored, around him a world of Judo opens, and Japan presents itself.
Paralympic Judo is a starting point for exploring the contrasting cultures of Brazil and Japan. A fun and surprising portrait of these Brazilian and Japanese athletes: lost in translation but finding common ground in judo. On this sensory journey through Japan we will get to know the local cuisine, temples and parks. We will know the first dojo in the world, the moral of the bushido, the spirit of the samurai. We will meet the sweet and strong Sensei Endo, the 3 time champion Fujimoto - and so many other fantastic characters on our way.
The project is timely because Japan is the cradle of judo, this martial art, sport, philosophy that connects so many around the world. And with Japan hosting the 2020 Paralympics it's a great opportunity to address the theme of Paralympic Judo and create a rich and complex picture of the sport, bringing the audience closer to the sensibilities of their visually impaired athletes. In parallel, we learn that the city of Hirosaki invites the Brazilian National Team to train because it is the city where Mitsuyo Maeda was born, a famous judo who traveled the world and brought Judo to Brazil. The cycle of learning and exchange between these two countries is perpetuated.
On this journey, the "Dreams of Judo" become unique, diverse as Brazilians and Japanese, and filled with meaning and history. And resilient Antonio Tenório, like Judo, continues to evolve.
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