Besides the opening and closing films, the Special Screenings section includes other previews and thematic programmes related to this edition.
This year, the highlight is Orlando, My Political Biography, by Paul B. Preciado, the sensation film of the last edition of the Berlinale. Based on Virginia Woolf’s classic, the writer-turned-director summoned a cast of 25 different people, all trans and non-binary, aged between 8 and 70, to play Orlando, while narrating their own lives and at the same time questioning: who are the contemporary Orlandos?
It’s impossible not to mention Primeira Obra, by Rui Simões, a veteran documentary filmmaker who got support for a debut in fiction. Rui Simões, director and producer, has a long career in documentaries, in various formats, including Deus, Pátria, Autoridade (1975), Bom povo português (1980) and Ruas da amargura (2008).
1976, Manuela Martelli’s directorial debut is a fine example of Chilean film noir, which attempts to dismantle the aftermath of the fascist dictatorship. The film tenuously explores how the Chilean middle class dealt with Pinochet’s seizure of power through a woman’s perspective.
In the short films, Où en êtes-vous, Tsai Ming-Liang? was commissioned by Centre Pompidou to the Taiwanese director, who adds his name to the list that already includes Teresa Villaverde, João Pedro Rodrigues and Jean-Marie Straub.
The 20th edition of IndieLisboa opens with Something You Said Last Night, by Luis De Filippis, a film that is also presented in the International Competition, and a story that is rarely told in trans narratives. The closing screening presents The Adults, by Dustin Guy Defa, or another kind of familiar circumstance.
All the Special Screenings can be consulted at the section’s page.
IndieLisboa starts on April 27 and it will be at Cinema São Jorge, Culturgest, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Cinema Ideal, Cinema Fernando Lopes and Penha de França Swimming Pool until May 7.
