The secret in the title of David Schurmann’s film refers to the interconnected stories of three women. Heloise decides to adopt a little girl after her parents’ death. For many years she leads a life full of adventure, sailing around the world with her husband and their adopted daughter Kat. When Kat becomes a teenager Heloise wants to give her more stability, but living in one place turns out to be much harder than she expected—especially when the girl’s dreams might come to nothing. We meet Jeanne, a beautiful Brazilian woman, when she sees Robert, a New Zealander, for the first time. They soon fall madly in love, but the road to happiness is quite bumpy. One of the bumps is Robert’s mother Barbara, a cold and calculating woman who’s used to getting exactly what she wants. Based on a true story, Schurmann’s film examines the meaning of love and its power to push past barriers of intolerance, bad will and human tragedy. Little Secret was Brazil’s official entry for the 2017 Academy Awards.