“Challenged by the transposition of part of its programme to online, the festival always tried to keep its commitment to promoting an attentive eye and a space for debate around cinema through the collective nature of the festival,” said Doclisboa organisers of the 18th edition which closed yesterday, having kicked off back in October 2020.
During the May 10 closing ceremony, the Fernando Lopes Award for Best Portuguese First Film was handed to 42.ZE.66, by Eduardo Saraiva. The jury citation stressed how, “this film summons us, in a sober, lean and effective way, to look at the hardness and loneliness of a profession through brief glimpses of its protagonist. The result is a genuine and honest portrait, free of corniness, judgment and commiseration, which brings the spectator the freedom to perceive the story and the future of Alexandrina.”
Between the 21-31 October 2021, Doclisboa will return to its original 11-day structure of themed sections and competitions, and will dedicate a complete retrospective to German filmmaker, photographer and artist Ulrike Ottinger (Paris Calligrammes), to be curated by Boris Nelepo.
Ottinger spent most of the 1960s in Paris, where she studied art history, religion and ethnology and searched for inspiration attending lectures by Claude Lévi-Strauss and socializing with leading artists of European avant-garde.
The programme will comprise 26 works, which address different topics such as feminism, queer or post-colonialism, contributing so much to the movement of the new German cinema.
In October, the festival also restores its ‘Passages’ section with an exhibition of photographs featuring the artist’s work, which will take place at Museu do Oriente, in Lisbon.
Prior to that, the Portuguese docfest’s ‘Origins – Practices and Traditions in Cinema’ programme will take place at Lisbon’s Cinema Ideal between 27 May and 2 June. On the last screening of the programme, the winner of the Practice, Tradition and Heritage Award – Inatel Foundation Award for Best Film dealing with “cultural and tradition practices, as well as intangible cultural heritage”, will be announced.
Between the 19 and 25 July “Cinema to Fight Racism”, a programme curated by SOS Racismo, will ‘occupy’ the Portuguese Monument to the Discoveries with a selection of films and debates that aim to promote a more in-depth discussion of issues of race in Portuguese society.
“In October the whole world will fit in Lisbon again!” the Doclisboa statement ends.
