The International Competition – feature films has the tradition of showing a diversity of works from all over the globe. This year is no exception.
Kate Plays Christine (April 28th and 29th, Thursday and Friday, 21h30 and 22h15, Culturgest and Cinema Ideal) is the most recent film by Robert Greene, known for his work as an editor in films by Alex Ross Perry and Charles Poekel. This film is a docu-fiction about Christine Chubbuck, an anchorwoman that committed suicide on air, in the seventies. Robert Greene will be presenting this screening. The director is also one of the guests at the LisbonTalks debate on independent american cinema (April 29th, Friday, 18h00, Auditorium 2 at Cinema São Jorge).
James White (April 29th and 30th, Friday and Saturday, 21h30 and 21h45, Culturgest and Cinema São Jorge) is the first feature film by Josh Mond, known for his work as a producer of directors like Antonio Campos (Afterschool) and Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene). James White is about the growing struggle of a young new yorker (great role by Christopher Abbot, the “new Harvey Keitel”) who has to leave behind a self-destructive behavior and help his needing mother (played by Cynthia Nixon, the actress that played Miranda of Sex and the City).
Short Stay (April 29 and 30, Friday and Saturday, 19h30 and 18h00, Culturgest and Cinema Ideal) is a typical mumblecore tale, shot on 35mm in an intimate tone. Mike is 30 and not particularly skilled for anything. When offered a better job in a bigger city, Philadelphia, he decides to go.
A different landscape: this time in Brazil. Olmo e a Gaitova (April 27 and 29, Wednesday and Friday, 21h30 and 19h00, Culturgest and Cinema São Jorge) is the second feature film by Petra Costa, here assisted by Lea Glob, after the multi awarded Elena. Olivia is a Chekovian actress in a theatre company but is about to play a different part: she is pregnant and becoming a mother in 9 months. Petra and Lea follow her and her companion in this other beautiful “play”. The directors will present the session.
Mate-me por favor (April 23 and 25, Saturday and Monday, 18h00 and 21h00) is the first feature film by Anita Rocha da Silveira and starts as a slasher shot in Tijuca neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, and ends as a coming of age of a 15 year old, Bia. After her neighborhood is haunted by a strange killer she must try to stay alive. Anita Rocha da Silveira is in Lisbon to present the session.
From Belgium and France come two films with the light and heat of summer. Baden Baden (April 23 and 24, Saturday and Sunday, 21h30 and 19h00, Culturgest and Cinema Ideal) tells the story of Ana, a young woman who finishes a dull job as a runner in a shooting and decides to drive to her hometown city, Strasbourg, for the summer. It’s time to replace her grandmother’s old bath and find oneself. The director Rachel Lang will be attending the screening.
Ce sentiment de l’eté (April 25 and 27, Monday and Wednesday, 21h30 and 19h00, Culturgest and Cinema Ideal) is also a story that takes place during the summer. Zoé and Lawrence have to face together, respectively, the loss of their sister and girlfriend. To do so they evoke the warm memory of three summers together with the deceased. A delicate film about coming from darkness to light again. The director Mikhaël Hers will be presenting the session.
The International Competition will go even farther in the journey with films coming from China, Denmark, Egypt and Greece. One of the monuments of this IndieLisboa is Jia/The Family (April 24 and 30, Sunday and Saturday, 14h30 and 15h00, Cinema São Jorge and Museu do Oriente). Ozu’s classic Tokyo Story turns into a “Shanghai Story” in this 4h40 film, by the Chinese Australian based director, Shumin Liu. An old couple decides to visit their adult children that the hardships of life sent away.
In the Last Days of the City (April 21 and 24, Thursday and Sunday, 21h30 and 21h00, Culturgest and cinema Ideal) tells us that the city where we grew up is always a battle field for our emotions. Everybody has their eyes on the Arab world and a film director struggles to make a film about his city, Cairo, before oppression, ignorance and ruin kick in. El Said’s love letter to the city is also a cry for resistance. Tamer El Said is presenting the screenings.
In Chevalier (April 25 and 28, Monday and Thursday, 19h00 and 22h15, Cinema Ideal), the International Competition meets again the greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, that showed in 2011 Attenberg. On a fish trip on a luxury yacht six friends decide to compete for the title of the best of them all, the Chevalier. Who has the best ringtone? Who builds faster an IKEA set? Yes, of course, who has a bigger dick?
Flotel Europa (April 26 and 28, Tuesday and Thursday, 19h00 and 18h00, Culturgest and Cinema Ideal) focus on the final destination in Denmark of the refugees of the war in Bosnia. The Serbian director Vladimir Tomic spent two years of his late childhood on board Flotel Europa, a giant boat for Bosnia war refugees, stationed in the Copenhagen canals. This documentary recalls the event two decades later. Vladimir Tomic will be presenting the screening.