Historically, Brazil has been configured as a destination for diverse, forced, or “spontaneous” migratory flows - a characteristic that endures today. Despite this background and its multi-ethnic socio-cultural constitution, immigrants and refugees continue to suffer from invisibility and the absence of welcoming policies, so it is necessary to understand that these circumstances should not define a person.

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In 2015, when she arrived in Brazil at only 17 years old, the Angolan Chimena Francisco joined a large number of people who left their countries. Despite the most common motivations, Chimena moved to Brazil to look after her family, more specifically Tony, her younger brother who have "Severe Hemophilia B" - a disease not well known in Angola discovered through a serious leg injury.

 

A few months later, her middle sister Joyce arrived in Brazil hoping for a permanent residence - she was pregnant and the birth of her daughter Dayane in the country could facilitate the family's documentation process. In this way, Toni would not miss his free treatment provided by the Brazilian Public Health System. Dayane was born in São Paulo and she is responsible for the air of happiness in a small room nestled in the back of a pension in the neighborhood of Brás - São Paulo where mother, uncles, and newborn share domestic activities, memories, and hopes.

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The project ”Chimena” is portrayed in a documentary narrative through the eyes of the duo Caroline Zambotti and Fernanda Brandão, who followed Chimena's daily life for two years (2017-2019). Despite the difficulties faced and everything she left behind, the possibility of a better life for her family is what comforts her.