'The Invention of Childhood' takes a harsh look at the contrasting lives of the very rich and the very poor children of Brazil, with an especially unique insight into the lives of the very rich. "I thought that in order to make a film about children, I would have to put in not only street children but also very wealthy children. And there are a lot of very well-to-do children in Brazil. But, when we started making this film, it was easier to get the less privileged children than it was the very well-to- do children. Usually the rich families live in enclosed, gated communities that are very hard to get into." Because the film shows the harsh contrasts between the two classes of children, Liliana was initially quite nervous when she showed the film to families that were supporting her efforts. "I was so nervous at the first preview meetings. But after showing what I had first gotten on tape, many of them were very encouraging, and they told me to keep going." Another unique aspect of 'The Invention of Childhood' is its use of animation and narration. The animation was created by a well-known Japanese artist named Tadao Miyake. "At first I wanted to insert still photographs during the narration parts of the film. But as I progressed with the film, I thought I'd use animation instead. It seemed to fit the theme and the mood of the film better. Mr. Miyake is such a wonderful animator and I think his illustrations were fantastic. The animated parts of the film helped to logically divide the documentary part of the film, and consequently became another way of telling the story." Liliana's film deals with a very serious problems affecting children in Brazil, but those same problems likely affect children in other parts of the world. Does Liliana feel there's a relationship between nationality and filmmaking? "I think there's a very strong connection between the two. I also think the theme of my film is very universal. But I think what I did was show specifically how children are in Brazil. Before I made this film, I was working for German television and we did a lot on the topic of street children in Brazil. The part of that filming that I just couldn't forget was how completely different a life the very poor children had compared with the very wealthy. And I thought I had to show both." Although Liliana's specialty is documentary filmmaking, she recently shot a narrative (fiction) film not long after 'The Invention of Childhood.' "Well, fiction is very interesting, and there were a lot of surprises in it for me. I guess in the end, my heart is in documentaries. I've just started a 90-minute documentary about women who were in prison, and what their lives are like once they are released and what their new lives are like."