Portugal presents two films at the Venice Film Festival
‘Sempre’, by Luciana Fina and 'Kora' by Cláudia Varejão will be screened as part of the "Giornate degli Autori" section of the festival, which runs from August 28 to September 7.
The film ‘Sempre’ by visual artist and director Luciana Fina and ‘Kora’ by Cláudia Varejão have been selected for the parallel “Giornate degli Autori” section at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, which runs from 28 August to 7 September.
The 81st edition of Venice kicked off on August 28 with the premiere of Tim Burton's ‘Beetlejuice’.
The jury is chaired by French actress Isabelle Huppert and made up of members James Gray, Andrew Haigh, Agnieszka Holland, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Abderrahmane Sissako, Giuseppe Tornatore, Julia von Heinz and Zhang Ziyi.
Sempre
“Sempre” is based on the film archives of the Cinemateca Portuguesa, ANIM and RTP, which invited italian filmmaker Luciana Fina to create an installation for the 50th anniversary of Carnation Revolution, entitled ‘SEMPRE: The word, the dream and poetry in the street’, which was on show at the Cinemateca until June this year.
It is from this installation that the feature film emerges, a montage documentary that draws on the archives of the Cinemateca Portuguesa (between 1962 and 1983) and the RTP, taking the viewer through the asphyxiation of Salazarism and the PIDE, the student occupations of 69, the Armed Forces Movement of 74, the dreams, programmes and prospects of PREC, the Hot Summer, decolonisation and, above all, reproposes the gestures of great filmmakers who took action together with artists, composers and radio directors.
In that period of transition, of building the future, Portuguese cinema was also living a crucial chapter in its history.
Kora
‘Kora’ is a short film about refugee women living in Portugal, based on the photographs the protagonists bring with them. Venice describes the film as ‘a manifesto against war and discrimination against women’.
‘At a time when they have to leave their countries because of an armed conflict, there is little we can bring, but one of them is photographs. The film tells the story of these women through these portraits,’ the director explained to Lusa in 2022, when she was preparing the film.
Produced by Terratreme Filmes, ‘Kora’ succeeds the feature film ‘Lobo e Cão’, which Cláudia Varejão premiered in 2022 in Venice, having received the best director award precisely in the ‘Authors’ Days’ programme.