“Luso!”, a show of new cinema in Portuguese, returns to Italy

Rome, 22 September (askanews) – The LUSO! Travelling Exhibition of New Portuguese Cinema brings the best of Portuguese cinema to Italy, deepening the interest and satisfying the curiosity of the Italian public, making this cinematographic reality known, little known outside the circuit of the big festivals. A heterogeneous and broad-spectrum framework to tell the story of Portugal yesterday and today, from the psychological thriller starring the poet Fernando Pessoa and his heteronyms, through the female drama that earned João Canijo the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, to the intimate and melodic documentary of the queen of morna, Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva, a film that will be released in theaters on October 18, in various Italian cities, distributed in the original language by Risi Film. Cities such as Venice, Pisa and Naples will also host a focus on the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, with contributions from Inês de Medeiros, Sérgio Tréfaut, Rui Simões and Lorenzo d’Amico de Carvalho. All the films are distributed in Italy by Risi Film and screened in their original version with Italian subtitles. In Milan at the Anteo Palazzo del Cinema on Monday 23 September, Bernardo Futscher Pereira, Ambassador of Portugal to Italy will attend the inauguration and screening of As Soon as You Live followed by that of Fernando Pessoa and the Club of Nothingness, while on Tuesday 24 it will be possible to see Cesária Évora, the Barefoot Diva and As Soon as You Live. The programme includes As Soon as You Live by João Canijo, winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, in which women of different generations belonging to the same family live in a family-run hotel located on the northern coast of Portugal. Poisoned by a relationship full of hatred, they try to survive in a hotel that is already showing the first signs of decay. The unexpected arrival of a niece will cause a strong upheaval that will revive latent hatreds and accumulated resentments. Vivere appena concludes the diptych formed with appena vivere, a mirror film where the director tells the events that develop inside this decadent hotel, no longer from the point of view of the owners but of the guests. An original and fascinating operation that expands the depth of this story by multiplying the levels of reading of this very successful work by Canijo. The psychological thriller Fernando Pessoa and the club of nothingness by Edgar Pêra, a journey through the mental universe of the poet Pessoa, in which the boundaries between imagination, dream and reality are difficult to discern, as in the life and work of the poet. The Milan festival closes with the biopic Cesária Évora, the Barefoot Diva, by Ana Sofia Fonseca, which reveals the soul of a music legend. Through archive footage, rare testimonies and private moments, the film reveals the struggles and triumphs of a woman who transformed her passion into an epic musical adventure. From humble beginnings as a singer in small clubs in Cape Verde to international fame at 51, Cesária faced challenges and won the hearts of the world with her voice. But behind the success was a simple desire: a home and the freedom to express herself. With a combination of talent, determination and authenticity, Cesária Évora enchanted audiences and embodied the spirit of her beloved Cape Verde, thus becoming the Queen of Morna, the musical style of which she became the main interpreter. The LUSO! has just begun its journey in Vicenza, with weekly screenings that will bring the films of LUSO! to the Cinema Araceli every Tuesday and Wednesday until November. In Pisa, the exhibition will be held at the Cinema Arsenale, from 4 to 6 October, in conjunction with the twenty-second edition of the Pisa Book Fest and in collaboration with the Cátedra Antero de Quental (Camões IP/Pisa) and the Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics of the University of Pisa. The fiftieth anniversary of the Carnation Revolution – 25 April 1974 – will be celebrated with the screening of Rua do Prior 41 by Lorenzo d’Amico de Carvalho, preceded by the presentation of the book by Sandro Moiso and Giulia Strippoli, Riti di Passaggio. Cronache di una Rivoluzione Scogliera. Portugal and political imagination 1974 – 1975 (Mimesis, 2024) on October 4th at 3:00 pm at the Auditorium of the Museum of Ancient Ships. In Lorenzo d’Amico de Carvalho’s film, Franco Lorenzoni, a twenty-year-old militant of Lotta Continua, occupies a house in Lisbon at Rua do Prior nº 41. In the following months, that house will become the headquarters of the Portugal-Italy Revolutionary Friendship Association (Associação de Amizade Revolucionária Portugal-Italia), which will bring hundreds of young people to see with their own eyes the freest country in Europe. A journey to discover one of the least known chapters in the history of the Carnation Revolution, to relive the dreams, hopes and disillusionments of a generation that believed it could change Europe and the world forever. In Venice, the Casa del Cinema di Venezia will host LUSO! in the Pasinetti video library, the contemporary cinema program will also be accompanied by a focus on the Carnation Revolution during the month of October. Among the titles proposed, in addition to As Soon as You Live and As Soon as You Live, Fernando Pessoa and the Club of Nothing, Cesária Évora, the Barefoot Diva, there are also the documentaries included in the focus: Cartas a uma Ditadura by Inês de Medeiros, Outro País by Sérgio Tréfaut and Bom Povo Português by Rui Simões. Cartas a uma Ditadura, best documentary at the Biarritz Film Festival, takes us on an in-depth journey into the obscurantism that dominated Portugal for over 50 years, through the analysis of unpublished archive material and about a hundred letters written by Portuguese women during the Salazar dictatorship, found in a bookshop in Lisbon. In Outro País the Portuguese Revolution (1974-75) is told through the eyes of some of the greatest international photographers and directors who witnessed the event. Sebastião Salgado, Glauber, Rocha, Robert Kramer, Thomas Harlan, Pea Holmquist, Guy Le Querrec, Dominique Issermann. The film Bom Povo Português, tries to retrace the story from April 25, 1974 to November 25, 1975, as it was experienced by the crew who, throughout this process, were spectators, actors and participants. But above all, they were totally engaged in the revolutionary process underway. LUSO! will also stop in Trieste, Naples, Cagliari, Brescia, Perugia, Verona, Pordenone, Udine, Prato and Turin, with other cities to be confirmed soon.