Director Rafa Damy Tells a Real Story about Re-Entering the Job Market after a Custodial Sentence

Birth’s Rafa Damy has directed this moving film to encourage the inclusion of those leaving the prison system in the job market.

Currently, about 800,000 people are serving a custodial sentence in Brazil. According to a 2020 survey (Source: Federal Supreme Court), the criminal re-offense rate in the country reaches 49.2%, almost half of the adult prison population. The reasons are many: the lack of professional training programs in the prisons, the lack of acceptance by the family, the community, and mainly: the prejudice that the ex-prisoners face in the job market. Many businesses think that, having committed a crime the ex-convict will forever be a criminal. 

To raise awareness in society and companies, the employment agency Responsa asked the agency Propeg to create an advertising campaign with the objective of encouraging the inclusion of those leaving the prison system in the job market.

With the title 'Second Chance' the film produced by Santeria tells the true story of Rodolfo Maturana, a detainee who served time for car theft in Brazil and who, when he got out of prison, faced great difficulty in finding a job. Using his talent for opening doors and locks, he makes a living as a locksmith. But after scenes that show the great prejudice of society towards him, we see Rodolfo at the end of the film breaking into a luxury car, as if he was returning to his life of crime. But to everyone's surprise, he saves a baby who was trapped inside the car.

The film signs off with the message: “If you can be good at something, you can be good at something.” It details the project of the 'Responsa' employment agency, which has already served 1800 ex-convicts and managed to employ more than 1000 ex-convicts from the Brazilian prison system.