This document provides an overview of Brazilian cinema and how films have portrayed the family and the nation. It discusses Mário de Andrade's novel "Macunaíma" from 1928 and José Louzeiro's romance-reportagem "A Infância dos Mortos" from 1977. It also analyzes the 1998 film "Central Station" directed by Walter Salles and his motivation behind the film about a boy searching for his father being an allegory for Brazil searching for its destiny after a military dictatorship. The film features Dora transforming into the archetypal mother known as "A Mãe de Deus das Candeias".