The premiere of “Lavagante” is set to coincide with the centenary of the birth of writer José Cardoso Pires, who passed away in 1998, leaving behind a legacy of works such as “Alexandra Alpha,” “Balada da Praia dos Cães,” “O Anjo Ancorado,” “O Delfim,” and “Dinossauro Excelentíssimo”.
The film is described by producer Paulo Branco as “a timeless love story set against the backdrop of nearly half a century of dictatorship, specifically highlighting one of the most violent periods of Salazarism: the brutal suppression of the student movement in 1962 at the University City.”
The adaptation of Cardoso Pires’ work was a longstanding project of António-Pedro Vasconcelos, initially announced as a television film as part of RTP’s “Trezes” initiative with Marginal Filmes but eventually transitioned to Paulo Branco’s production.
In a 2022 interview, António-Pedro Vasconcelos expressed his interest in “Lavagante,” noting, “It tackles a great conflict and helps younger audiences understand what fascism was.”
“It’s a somewhat harsher film about the dictatorship. I took the story, and Cardoso Pires’ family agreed to the adaptation,” Vasconcelos explained, who had signed the adapted screenplay.
Following António-Pedro Vasconcelos’ death in March 2024, at the age of 84, Paulo Branco announced that in tribute to the filmmaker, he would complete the project with a new director, bringing on Mário Barroso, who also serves as the director of photography.
The cast includes Júlia Palha, Nuno Lopes, Francisco Froes, Diogo Infante, Leonor Alecrim, among others.
“Lavagante, Encontro Desabitado” was published by editor Nelson de Matos in 2008 to mark the tenth anniversary of José Cardoso Pires’ death, reviving a text the author began in the 1960s and left unfinished.
At the time, editor Nelson de Matos described this unpublished story as a “love story” set against a backdrop of “censorship, political police, the student revolt of 1962, political persecutions and imprisonments.”
In the film, Júlia Palha stars as Cecília, an Architecture student, who becomes involved with Daniel (Francisco Froes), a doctor opposed to Salazar’s authoritarian regime.
