In the starkly beautiful, dry landscape of the poverty-stricken Brazilian Northeast, there lives a woman who shares a modest home with her three husbands....

Andrucha Waddington's bittersweet comedy ME YOU THEM tells a contemporary story, a tale that in spite of its seemingly unique circumstances could happen anywhere, anytime: a story of love, friendship and dignity.

The idea of making ME YOU THEM occurred to Waddington in 1995, when the director saw a television special about a woman who had lived under the same roof with her three husbands for ten years. "I found the story very interesting," says the director, "especially for being the opposite of what normally happens. It's more common in that area to find a 'sugar daddy' who lives with more than one woman. I wanted to investigate how a woman in such a macho culture managed to deal with that situation."

Inspired by this premise, Waddington and screenwriter Elena Soárez wove a fictitious story that chronicles, at turns with humor and passion, the uncommon love quartet led by Darlene, a strong, earthy woman. Intuitive and full of life, Darlene manages to carve out a convivial existence under the same roof with her three husbands: Osias, Zezinho and Ciro. Her situation is not the result of a specific plan, for she is not manipulative or conniving. Simply, Darlene lets circumstances unfold, making good use of her uncanny talent for adjusting to change - or rather, for getting the men in her life to adjust to a changing state of affairs. Shocked to various degrees by the turn of events, her husbands will ultimately surprise themselves and continue to be part of Darlene's growing family. Surrounded by a barren landscape that they struggle to harvest, they have come to view the fertile, earthy Darlene as the powerful center of their small universe, and they cannot help gravitating toward her.

After working on the script with Soárez for four years, Waddington began principal photography on the film in Bahia in June/July 1999.

ME YOU THEM is the third feature film to come forth from Conspiração Filmes. Renowned for the quality and originality of its work in television and movies, Conspiração has quickly established itself as one of Brazil's premier production entities. Based in Rio de Janeiro, the company consists of a group of directors and producers partnered together with the financial group Icatu.

A Conspiração Filmes/Columbia TriStar Filmes do Brasil / Sony Pictures Classics production, ME YOU THEM was directed by Andrucha Waddington. The cast features, in the leading roles, four of the most renowned TV, stage and film stars in Brazil: Regina Casé (as Darlene); Lima Duarte (Osias); Stênio Garcia (Zezinho); and Luiz Vasconcelos (Ciro). Gilberto Gil, a prominent name in Brazilian popular music and a 1999 Grammy winner in the World Music category, is responsible for the score and music direction. The director of photography is Breno Silveira; the production designer is Toni Vanzolini.