The three protags are surprisingly laid-back about expecting. Luana, 15, has helped her single mom raise her younger sisters and now wants a child of her own. The father of 13-year-old Evelin's baby has recently stopped packing a gun and working for drug dealers. Edilene, 14, has to share the father of her child with Joice, another girl he has gotten pregnant; complicating things further, her mother is also expecting a baby. The girls are winningly open, and offer a tough but illuminating glimpse into ghetto life. Followed through delivery into the early days of motherhood, they remain upbeat despite the hardships they face.

Camera (color, DV-to-35mm), Fred Rocha, Heloisa Passos; editor, Fernanda Rondon; music, Ze Miguel Wisnik, Paulo Neves. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Panorama), Feb. 16, 2006. Running time: 71 MIN.