More than 270 films, a couple of dozen parallel activities and a week full of parties are the ingredients for the sixteenth edition of IndieLisboa by Allianz. The International Film Festival is returning to the capital between May 2nd and May 12th at Cinema São Jorge, Culturgest, Cinemateca Portuguesa and Cinema Ideal.
Respecting what has been the continued commitment to national production, IndieLisboa 2019 presents 53 Portuguese films, all of them premiering at the festival. The program of short films is also diverse, with a selection that ranges from animation to fiction, from documentary to more a experimental terrain, compiling new authors and renowned figures from Portuguese and international cinema. Brazilian cinema is featured this year as one of the Independent Heroes of the festival, punctuating all the sections of the festival with some of the most interesting names of recent film production from our sibling country. A selection that questions Brazilian cinema of today and intends to open the discussion around what will happen to the seventh art in the future in a country in the face of political uncertainty. This will be the subject of the debate with some of these filmmakers taking place on May 11th at 17h, at Culturgest.
Special attention is also given to the unique voices of some filmmakers who have become a must at festivals, critical venues and film theatres across the globe. The focus dedicated to the most enthusiastic duo for the press and public in the last 12 months, Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel, with a full retrospective of all their short films, the debut of their first feature Jessica Forever, and a completely unpredictable gaming performance (6 May, Carpintarias de São Lázaro, 21h30). Still in the Silvestre section, the new film by Jafar Parhadi about the Iranian culture in 3 Faces, the return of Lee Chang-dong to the big screen with the adaptation of a story by Haruki Murakami, in Burning; the filmography of Mike Leigh, one of the most established British filmmakers of today, in Peterloo and I Was at Home But, by Angela Shanelec, winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Festival.
In the family and children’s section of the festival, IndieJunior, the workshops complete the film programming. This year, there’s a special emphasis on sound in cinema and animation. In the special screenings there is space for the meeting between music and moving image, at the Film-concert Mundo Animado (May 4th, 16h, Culturgest), and a large Picnic on grass at Palácio Galveias library garden closes the screening Algures entre o Céu e a Terra (May 11th, 15h Culturgest).
A special word for the retrospective dedicated to Anna Karina, the second Independent Hero of this year, which will feature a conversation with the actress (May 8th, 19h00, Cinemateca Portuguesa). At the LisbonTalks, IndieLisboa explores the role of sound in Film, with a panel of conversations and guests that represent much of what was the evolution and practice of the medium in Portugal in recent years. At night, IndiebyNight occupies Casa Independente with parties that complement the programming of documentaries about music (IndieMusic). Ama Romanta with João Peste will invite several of the elements that marked the history of the publisher (May 9th); the meeting of 10 women artists will give us a chance to revisit much of the music that has been made in Portugal in the last 20 years (May 10th) and the trip to the psychadelic African sounds by Jacco Gardner and Maria P. (May 8th).
The full festival program can be found at www.indielisboa.com and on the official application (available for iOS and Android). Tickets can now be purchased at Culturgest’s central ticket office, Cinema São Jorge, at Cinema Ideal and at Ticketline’s website.