Madame Satã

Having been convicted of murder, spending 27 years in prison, being a former gangster and father of 7, he found refuge in the dark Bohemian culture of Rio de Janeiro amid a lively world of pimps, prostitutes, deviants and samba composers.

[1] João is most commemorated as a figure who fought to redefine himself while battling the stigmas of being a son of former black slaves, illiterate and homosexual.

João's infamous character represented an expression of resistance in this post abolitionist era in Brazil where black people, prostitutes, drug users and addicts and other 'deviant' outcasts were deemed useless to society.

[2] A drunken João once resisted arrest by a 24-man platoon, leaving seven of the agents badly wounded, two with broken arms and two with split livers.

João Francisco dos Santos's story was told in the film Madame Satã, directed by Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz and was released in 2002.