Films which reflect about the issue of gender, the different roles of women in society, the new paradigms of sexuality and the liberation of ideas and prejudices, in one guide which wil interest both women and men of this year’s IndieLisboa.
To talk about sexuality, desires, fantasies, frustrations and fears was the main challenge of the open-call launched by Mette Carla Albrechtsen and Lea Glob. A casting which was meant to give birth to a different film but, due to the quality of the captured material, gave birth to Venus: a confessional look on female sexuality, with no shame or inhibitions. The story of more than a hundred women on May 5th and May 14th at Culturgest. The Fulani tribe, three shepherds from Burkina Faso, and their traditions of entering adulthood are the focus of Simon Gillard’s first feature, Boli Bana. A close look at the mystical adolescence of the tribe that accompanies Ama, one of the young shepherds, and Aissita, one of the village girls. Milagros Mumenthaler portrays a different kind of childhood in The Idea of a Lake, his second feature that follows Inés when she decides to organize a book of poems and photographs from her past, as she gets a divorce and expects a child. A story about going back to old memories, shot in southern Argentina, on May 4 and 10 at Cinema São Jorge and Cinema Ideal, respectively. Raw has provoked much discomfort in the theaters and reports of spectators leaving their seats to vomit are increasing. The story of a vegetarian who goes into a destructive spiral into cannibalism is a metaphor for reaching adulthood, conformism and sex. A screening for the strong minded, at Cinema São Jorge on May 11th and at the Mouth of Madness marathon on the night of May 6th. When it comes to animation, Pussy, shows the intimate moments of a girl exploring her sexuality. One of the stories to keep an eye on at the second screening of the International Short Film Competition at Culturgest on May 6th and 9th.
Contemporary of the Nouvelle Vague, Paul Vecchiali’s views were never quite aligned with those of any movement, and his thoughts on controversial social issues, sexuality and romantic relationships are a crucial part of his body of work. In his retrospective, we highlight three film: Change pas de main, an erotic police officer who reverses the formalisms of gender cinema; Femmes femmes, a satire where Hélène Surgère and Sonia Saviange play the roles of two failed actresses who transform their lives into a permanent play; and En haut des marches, a tribute to his mother, a fragile woman, but with an unstoppable energy.