Three Portuguese films, by Inês Lima, Paulo Carneiro and Frederico Lobo, will be screened in May at the Filmmakers’ Fortnight, a parallel program to the Cannes Film Festival in France, it was announced today.
The Filmmakers’ Fortnight, created in 1969, is an independent, non-competitive programme that runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival and is organized by the Society of Film Directors.
The program announced today includes two works that portray the territory of Trás-os-Montes: the feature film “A Savana e a Montanha”, by Paulo Carneiro, and the short film “Quando a terra fuge”, by Frederico Lobo.
“A Savana e a Montanha” was shot in Covas do Barroso, in the municipality of Boticas, and follows the inhabitants’ struggle against the possibility of lithium mines.
The project, awarded to British company Savannah Resources, is for a region recognized by the United Nations “as the only Agricultural Heritage System of World Importance in Portugal (and one of the few in Europe)” and the local population is not willing to be financially compensated for the negative impacts of lithium mining, says the Portugal Film agency, which will distribute the film internationally.
In an interview with the Lusa news agency last January, Paulo Carneiro described this film, which is co-produced with Uruguay, as a “social western”, shot in the same region where he had previously made the biographical film “Bostofrio, où le ciel rejoint la terre” (2018).
“Quando a terra fuge”, by Frederico Lobo, was filmed entirely in the region of Trás-os-Montes and is co-produced by Terratreme Filmes and Rua Escura.
“Amidst the fog, in a labyrinth of time, where machines probe the geological depths of the mountain, a shepherd goes in search of a stray cow and childhood finds its way back. The mountains change, the cycle continues,” says the synopsis.
With Terratreme, Frederico Lobo co-signed the films “Bab Sebta” (2008), with Pedro Pinho, and “Revolução Industrial” (2014), with Tiago Hespanha.
These two films are joined in the Filmmakers’ Fortnight by the short film “O jardim em movimento”, by director and visual artist Inês Lima.
The director made this film with two botanical guides who lead a group of hikers through the Arrábida Natural Park, on the Setúbal peninsula. “On this walk among various species of fauna and flora, we understand that this particular place is undergoing a mutation, not due to natural causes, but by human hand,” reads the synopsis released by the Short Film Agency.
The selection announced today also includes the Brazilian production “A queda do céu”, by Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, about indigenous peoples and their relationship with nature, inspired by a book by Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a shaman, and anthropologist Bruce Albert.
The Filmmakers’ Fortnight will take place from May 15 to 25, with a career award going to British director Andrea Arnold at the opening ceremony.
At the Cannes Film Festival, which will take place that same week in May – between the 14th and 25th – is the film “Grand Tour”, by Miguel Gomes, his first film in the official competition.
Also in the competition is “Motel Destino”, by Brazilian director Karim Ainouz.
Also noteworthy is the presence of Brazilian cinema in another parallel Cannes program – Critics’ Week, from May 15 to 23 – whose choice of feature films, announced on Monday, includes the film “Baby”, by director Marcelo Caetano.