The premiere of the film at the Anthology Film Archives features the presence of Marta Mateus and is accompanied by a film program curated by the filmmaker, as announced by the production company Clarão Companhia in a statement released today.
Besides the commercial premiere of ‘Fogo de Vento’, Marta Mateus has been invited by several American Film Archives and Ivy League universities, including Harvard University, Brown University, Yale University, and Princeton University, as well as the Universities of Chicago, Stanford, and Berkeley.
According to Clarão Companhia, the Harvard Film Archive is dedicating a series titled ‘A Terra! The Cinema of Marta Mateus’ to the Portuguese director.
Invited by DocFilms, the Portuguese filmmaker has programmed a series in Chicago, “where her films will be presented by Jonathan Rosenbaum, one of the most renowned American critics, with whom she will also hold a conversation at the Gene Siskel Center”.
Additionally, screenings will take place at the Acropolis Cinema in Los Angeles and San Francisco, at Stanford University and Berkeley.
‘Fogo do Vento’, a co-production by Portugal’s Clarão Companhia, Switzerland’s Casa Azul Films, and France’s Les Films d’Ici, is Marta Mateus’ first feature film following the award-winning short film ‘Farpões Baldios’, which “follows some of the protagonists of that film, delving into stories of a community in Alentejo”, as described in a statement by Portugal Film released in April regarding the work.
The film “evokes the memory of previous generations”, progressing “from the resistance to Salazar’s dictatorship to the present time, reflecting on war and peace”.
The filmmaker, in a statement of intent quoted by Portugal Film, describes the work: “One day, in the summer of 2017, a black bull appeared in my thoughts. Days later, an image of a fire, of scorched earth, came to me. I learned to pay attention to signs, dreams, visions, to keep the slightest hints present in an idea, in a breath of wind. These are the inaugural images from which I wove a tapestry that crosses the experiences of the people in my community in Alentejo, the images of our memories, and those that imagination invents”.
The film had its world premiere last year at the Locarno Festival and was subsequently selected for festivals such as New York, London BFI, Tokyo, Viennale in Austria’s capital, and Valdivia in Chile.
Among other awards, ‘Fogo do Vento’ received the Special Jury Prize at the Avant-Garde Film Festival in Athens, the Fipresci Special Jury Prize (International Federation of Film Critics) at the Gijón Festival in Spain, the Best Direction Prize at the Caminhos do Cinema Português Festival in Coimbra, and the Best First International Film award at the Busto Arsizio Festival in Italy.
The film has yet to have a commercial release in Portugal.
