For 35 years, an old homeless man spent his days writing beautiful poems and short stories, unseen by the world around him. “The Conditioned” is a critically acclaimed documentary that follows the remarkable journey of this 77-year-old Brazilian poet and philosopher.
For a long time, Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho sat outside in his improvised asylum, composing, composing, composing. He longed for the day his words would be distributed, not to mention read by somebody… anybody. Be that as it may, then in spring of 2011, Raimundo’s life changed everlastingly when he was become a close acquaintence with by lady named Shalla. She really wanted to see Raimundo was never without his pen and pencil, jotting endlessly on his little scraps of paper. He gave her one of his sonnets.
Shalla was so struck by the old man’s work that she made a Facebook page and imparted his compositions to the world. Neither Shalla nor Raimundo ever expected what happened next. Once his poetry and stories were brought to light, one person in particular emerged from the shadows — and when you see who it is, you’ll be blown away.
Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho is a 77-year-old Brazilian poet and philosopher. Raimundo became homeless in the late 70s. He spent the next 35 years writing poems and stories on the streets, but his beautiful work remained unknown.
It wasn’t until 2011 that Raimundo’s life would change. Shalla Monteiro passed by Raimundo on a daily basis and noticed that he always had a pen and paper in his hand. Each day, Shalla would talk to Raimundo and he would share his poems with her. Shalla commented in “The Conditioned,” a short documentary film,
“When I saw Raimundo for the first time, he gave me one of his poems. From that moment, he started to be a part of my life.”
Shalla was incredibly impressed with the poems that Raimundo shared with her and wanted to share his writings with the world. So, she started a Facebook Page to post his stories.
Quickly, people were inspired by this man’s profound writings and the Facebook Page page grew to over 100,000 likes. He also received attention from those in his community, as local people would bring gifts and share appreciation for his beautiful writings.
But out of Raimundo’s newfound notoriety emerged one very unexpected person: his long-lost brother. After connecting via Facebook, his brother asked Raimundo to live with him.
