A Tree Doesn't Die Twice

The premise

This film already exists.

During Max Lamb's two-and-a-half-week residency at Hugo França's atelier in Trancoso, Bahia — brokered by Gallery FUMI — Rota.co spent a week inside it, documenting the work as it happened. In-depth interviews with both artists, together and apart. The workshop in full voice: chainsaws, sawdust, the opened heart of a monumental pequi. And the life around the work — the beach, the family lunches, the friendship taking shape between cuts.

We filmed it on our own initiative, because we recognised what was in front of us: a story that only happens once.

What the film needs now is its closing movement. This October, for one week, we will be exactly where that movement takes place.

Hugo França and Max Lamb at work in the atelier, Trancoso — **Still 01** — The atelier, Trancoso. Hugo França and Max Lamb at work.

Watch first · 75 seconds

Teaser — cut entirely from the Trancoso footage. Sound up. · Watch on YouTube ↗

The film · three chapters

I

The Meeting

TC 01:00:03 · FILMED

Two universes that had been in silent conversation for twenty years. Max Lamb first encountered Hugo França's work as a design student in 2003, and stood before one of his pieces in New York in 2008. In 2026, thirty-five kilometres of red dirt road finally carried him through the Mata Atlântica to the source — walls of grey timber rising like stone, and a host whose initial reserve dissolved within days into extreme naturalness.

Mountains of grey timber, like walls of stone. Max Lamb — Trancoso interview

Max Lamb shaping a piece in the workshop — **Still 02** — Max Lamb at work on a piece.

II

The Silent Dialogue

TC 01:20:54 · FILMED

Max describes his practice as a conversation in three parts — himself, the material, the process. Trancoso added a fourth: living inside another artist's ecosystem, his tools, his team, his rhythm. Out of respect for that ecosystem, Max refused the great trunks. He worked exclusively with the offcuts and shavings set aside over thirty years of Hugo's practice — the byproduct of the byproduct.

Hugo França grants fallen giants a second life. Max Lamb granted the leftovers a third. In this atelier, a tree doesn't die twice — it keeps beginning.

Here the film slows down: two artists working side by side without a word, in the conviction that when they stop talking, the material continues the conversation. The chainsaw opens the monumental Pequi-Vinagreiro and exposes its interior life. And a man who calls himself hyperactive learns, from a Bahian crew that guards its rest as something sacred, the patience of natural time.

Max Lamb, Hugo França and Tuco in the workshop — **Still 03** — Max Lamb, Hugo França & Tuco at the heart of the workshop.

III

Three Months On

TC —:—:— · TO BE FILMED, LONDON

Some endings are best told with hindsight. When the residency closed, the works were still becoming; by October, three months will have passed. A half-day session with Max in London captures the reflections that close the film — what he carried home, what the collaboration became, what the pieces hold of Trancoso now that an ocean lies between them. The same session gives the film its opening counterpoint: the maker in his own grey, urban world, before the forest.

In parallel, a closing session with Hugo França at the atelier in Trancoso — offered with our compliments — completes the circle where it began.

This frame does not exist yet.
London · October 2026

Still 04 — The missing chapter.

Already captured · the Trancoso archive

InterviewHugo França, in depth — forty years of second lives for fallen trees, and the arrival of an unexpected guest. Portuguese.
InterviewMax Lamb, in depth — from a 2003 university lecture to the source itself. English.
InterviewHugo & Max together — the neighbouring houses, the Bahian breakfasts, the friendship. Portuguese & English.
WorkshopHeavy making — chainsaw work, rough sanding, timber dust in the afternoon light; the Pequi-Vinagreiro opened.
PeopleThe crew — Tuco bridging language through craft; the local team; lunches shared on the workshop floor.
LifeThe beach, the families, the everyday Bahia of the residency.
The worksThe finished pieces under the Bahian sun — breathing the air of Trancoso before departure.

The Process Film — the first piece we shared with the gallery: the creative process at the atelier, as it happened. · Watch on YouTube ↗

The London window

18 — 21
October
London

Hugo Lima — founder and director of Rota.co — and director of photography Douglas Mendes will be in London from 17 October. We propose a half-day session with Max between the 18th and the 21st: interview and portraits, at his studio or a location of the gallery's choosing.

Because we will already be in the city, this session carries no travel and no accommodation costs for the gallery. The window is real, and it is brief: it is what allows a film of this scale to be completed at the value below.

To hold the October window, we kindly ask for confirmation by September 2026.

The package · what the gallery receives

The film — A Tree Doesn't Die Twice

A mini-documentary of c. 8–10 minutes across the three chapters above. English subtitles throughout; colour-graded, sound-designed, delivered in 4K.
Four vertical cuts for the gallery's channels

Up to 90 seconds each, cut from the same material, English subtitles — built for Instagram and beyond, in the film's own language.
The teaser already delivered

The 75-second piece above — the film's calling card, ready for announcement use.
The process film already delivered

The first look inside the residency, shared with the gallery ahead of this proposal.
Closing session with Hugo França with our compliments

A conclusion shoot at the atelier in Trancoso, completing the film's circle — offered as a courtesy within this package.

The teaser and the process film were produced on Rota.co's own initiative and accompany this proposal as a preview of the film's language. Publication rights for both pieces are included in this package and take effect upon confirmation. All deliverables are licensed for unlimited use across the gallery's and the artists' channels.

The investment

Full production value from £4,400

Partnership rate — this commission £2,200 GBP

Half the value, for a whole reason: we will already be in London, we believe in this film, and we would rather open a long partnership with Gallery FUMI than price a single job. The gallery acquires a nearly finished cultural asset about two artists of its own world — and funds only its completion.

50% on confirmation · 50% on final delivery · No travel or accommodation costs

Timeline

SEP 2026Confirmation — secures the London window.
18–21 OCT 2026Half-day session with Max Lamb, London — date at his convenience.
NOV 2026Closing session with Hugo França, Trancoso — aligned with the atelier's calendar.
NOV 2026Four vertical cuts delivered.
DEC 2026Final film delivered — A Tree Doesn't Die Twice, complete.

Rota.co abroad · selected work

Rota.co produces internationally every year, across Europe and the Americas — from brand films to artist documentaries.

Rowers on the lake at first light — **Sennheiser** — Germany

Rowing eight from above — **Sennheiser** — Germany

Ileana Hochmann with her works — **Tercera Margen — Ileana Hochmann**
Palacio Pereda, Buenos Aires

Work detail, Tercera Margen — **Tercera Margen — Ileana Hochmann**
Palacio Pereda, Buenos Aires

Crystal in the garden light — **Event production** — Portugal

Interview by the stone wall — **Event production** — Portugal

Mirror-sphere installation — **Client productions** — New York, 2024

Empire State Building from the observatory — **Client productions** — New York, 2024

Player portrait, Kings League Paris — **Kings League** — Paris, 2025

Indoor pitch, wide shot — **Kings League** — Paris, 2025

Looking ahead

The story doesn't end in London.

The works travel next — New York first, then home to Mayfair. When they do, the film's world is already built: its language, its archive, its makers. Rota.co would be honoured to document both openings, and to stand as Gallery FUMI's production partner in South America and wherever the work goes next.

Some films are commissioned. This one insisted on being made — it now asks only to be finished.

Hugo Lima Founder & Director · Rota.co

contato@rotacompany.com
+55 11 95107-3439
rotacompany.com.br

The Meeting

The Silent Dialogue

Three Months On

The film — A Tree Doesn't Die Twice

Four vertical cuts for the gallery's channels

The teaser already delivered

The process film already delivered

Closing session with Hugo França with our compliments

A tree doesn't die twice

O Encontro

O Diálogo Silencioso

Três Meses Depois

O filme — A Tree Doesn't Die Twice

Quatro cortes verticais para os canais da galeria

O teaser já entregue

O filme de processo já entregue

Sessão de encerramento com Hugo França cortesia