Statement: we won’t make a speech of how 2013 was once again a terrible and hard year for Portuguese cinema. On the contrary we are going to prove that the national production is even more aware of new styles and techniques. The National Competition will come across with remarkable work, different types of cinematographic perspectives, each one speaking for its own originality. The features on competition revisits some familiar names: Joaquim Pinto and Nuno Leonel bring in the very buzzed O Novo Testamento de Jesus Cristo Segundo João, a documentary stuffed with readings of the biblical text by one of the gods of Portuguese theatre, Luís Miguel Cintra. SérgioTréfaut, in Alentejo, Alentejo, establishes the still reigning force of the cante alentejano (Portuguese traditional folk music from Alentejo) ‚ also a celebration of everything that April represents in Portugal. Tiago Hespanha and Frederico Lobo celebrate their presence with Revolução Industrial, an intense dive in Vale do Ave, a take on the revolution that did not affect the lives of its population. Cláudia Alves will present us with Tales on Blindness, a documentary that unveils the Portuguese occupation in India.
In 2014, the short films on the Portuguese competition brings to light the fact that a lot Portuguese filmmakers are even more eager to use the short format, while some of the selected filmmakers have taken large steps in the long-format such as Sandro Aguilar (Jewels) and Tiago Guedes (Coro dos Amantes). Works by some familiar names will return to IndieLisboa like Antero (by Ico Costa), Boa noite Cinderela (by Carlos Conceição), Daddies (by António da Silva), Ennui Ennui (by Gabriel Abrantes), Ponto Morto (by André Godinho) and Varadouro (by Paulo Abreu and João da Ponte). It is also the perfect time to discover breakthrough talents such as A Caça Revoluções (by Margarida Rego), As Figuras Gravadas na Faca com a Seiva das Bananeiras (by Joana Pimenta), As Rosas Brancas (by Diogo Costa Amarante), Coisa de Alguém (by Susanne Malorny), Implausible things (by Rita Macedo), Le petit prince au pays qui défile (by Carina Freire), Retrato (by Vasco Araújo) and finally Square Dance, Los Angeles County, California, 2013 (by Sílvia das Fadas).
The section Brand New elevates its importance with a first: a feature film, O Primeiro Verão, by Adriano Mendes. In the short-format partitionthe festival will present A Minha Idade (by Hugo Pedro), Alda (by Filipe Fonseca, Ana Cardoso, Luís Cataló and Liliano Sobreiro), É consideravelmente admirável da tua parte que ainda penses em mim como se aqui estivesse (by André Mendes and Andreia Neves), Em Cada Lar Perfeito Um Coração Desfeito (by Joana Linda), Escala (by Fábio Penela), Gata Má (by Eva Mendes, Joana de Rosa and Sara Augusto), Meio Corte (byNicolai Nekh), O Silêncio entre duas canções (by Mónica Lima), Sisters (by Pedro Lucas), Tudo vai sem se dizer (by Rui Esperança) and Uma vida mais simples (by Inês Alves). Three screenings and three opportunities to get to know better the pure and refreshing filmmakers of the future.
In the section Director’s Cut there will be films by Luís Alves de Matos, Refúgio e Evasão, a documentary that tracks the cinematographic vision of Alberto Seixas Santos and the short films, Head, Tail, Rail, by Hugo Olim and Walk in the Flesh by Filipe Afonso.
Songs, the festival also has them in Portuguese and IndieMusic celebrates 40 years of freedom with music. Related with the program República dos Cravos:25 de Abril, Sempre,the documentary about the life and work of José Mário Branco, Mudar de Vida will be screened. Thanks to Paulo Segadães, contemporary Portuguese music is portrayed through the voice of The Legendary Tigerman in True.
For the little ones, three portuguese works will be in IndieJúnior: Adolfo, by João Carrilho, Fúria, by Diogo Baldaia and Zombies4Kids by Pedro Santasmarinas.
The program República dos Cravos: 25 de Abril, Sempre brings the documentary Outra forma de luta, by João Pinto Nogueira, a reconstituion of few episodes with the help of the letters between Nuno Bragança and Carlos Antunes. In addition, the co-production Les Grandes Ondes by Lionel Baier adds up some laughter to the program with a comedy that tells the story of a SwissTv crew that has landed in an apparently numb Portugal and wakes up the day after in a different country, a newly-free one.
Nevertheless we saved some space for huge names of cinema in two Portuguese productions, specially made for the Capital Europeia da Cultura ‚ Guimarães 2012 program: 3x3D, by Peter Greenaway, Edgar Pêra and Jean-Luc Godard and the long-awaited Centro Histórico by Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, Víctor Erice and Aki Kaurismäki.