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 the seventy-something Brazilian poet and philosopher.
Day after day, Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho sat outside in his makeshift shelter, writing, writing, writing. He dreamt of the day his words would be published, let alone read by someone else. But then in spring of 2011, Raimundo's life changed forever when he was befriended by a woman named Shalla. Shalla couldn't help but notice Raimundo was never without his pen and pencil, scribbling away on his small scraps of paper.
One day, Raimundo gave Shalla one of his poems.
She was so struck by the man's unbelievable writing that she created a Facebook page and shared his work with the world. Neither Shalla nor Raimundo ever expected what came next.
Once his poetry and stories were brought to light, someone unexpected emerged from the shadows.
Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho was 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 to the world around him.
Raimundo sat and wrote his beautiful poetry and philosophized in the same spot outside every single day.
To the locals who walked by, he was simply a dirty, unkempt, unworthy old man.
But Raimundo never stopped writing, or dreaming of the day his work would be published.
Thankfully, that ability to dream and have hope is something homelessness never took away from him.
In 2011, a young woman named Shalla Monteiro befriended the elderly homeless man.
She'd stop to talk with him on a daily basis, until Raimundo felt comfortable enough to give her one of his poems.
Shalla was blown away by the poetry — so much so that she created a Facebook Page to feature Raimundo’s poems and stories because she believed his work should be seen by the rest of the world.
As soon as Raimundo's work hit the internet he was received with an outpouring of support.
Locals sought him out, brought him gifts and offered him words of praise.
His Facebook page grew with over 100,000 followers.
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!
Raimundo not only cleaned himself up for the first time in 35 years, but he now had a home and was loved.
He and Shalla remain best friends to this day.
Raimundo is now working on publishing his poetry.
It is so clear that he has come such a long way since his days on the street and it is so inspiring that he never let that difficult life sully his dream.
