Based on Jorge Amado's bestseller published in 1977, Carlos Diegues's film Tieta do Agreste, marks the return of Brazil's biggest star, Sonia Braga, to her country's cinema after 12 years in the United States. Filmed in the state of Bahia the cast counts with names as: Marilia Pera, Chico Anysio, Claudia Abreu, Zeze Mota. The music is from Caetano Veloso, photography by Edgar Moura, art direction by Lia Renha, costume design by Luciana Buarque and Sonia Braga's Wardrobe by Ocimar Versolato.

Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) is a former school teacher who makes a living by writing letters for illiterate people passing through Rio de Janeiro's main train station, Central Station. Among her clients are Ana (Soia Lira) and her nine-year-old son Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), who has a fierce desire to meet his father, whom he has never seen. Central Station aims to talk about Brazil's search for its own roots. This is a film about a boy wanting to find his own identity (Josue), but is also about people striving to maintain a contact with their past (the illiterate migrants who dictate letters to Dora).