Cecilia Mangini (photo: Vera de Kokk, Creative Commons license)
In October, Doclisboa will pay tribute to the cinema of Cecilia Mangini, one of the most prominent names in Italian documentary, programming a retrospective of the filmmaker’s entire work. This will be presented in collaboration with Cinemateca Portuguesa, with the support of the Italian Institute of Culture in Lisbon.
Mangini, who passed away earlier this year, is one of the most important figures in Italian cinema, being a female pioneer within the documentary scene over the post-war period. Born in 1927, in Mola di Bari, southern Italy, Mangini began her relationship with image through photography in 1952, embracing the art of cinema six years later.
She filmed throughout her life, building a body of work that spans seven decades. From the beginning of her career, Mangini “had a committed, attentive and intimate view of the individual and of society,” writes the festival. “Her films preserve contemporary relevance as they explore urgent themes such as the condition of women, peripheral and marginalized communities, the roots of fascism, immigration and social injustice. Mangini’s body of work is permeated by poetry and beauty, but it is, above all, the story of a life dedicated to thinking about cinema as a tool for resistance.”
The retrospective will also include a set of titles by her husband and also filmmaker Lino Del Fra, in which Mangini left her mark as an influential screenwriter and collaborator.
HEARTBEAT
First titles announced for Doclisboa’s Heart Beat section are Lydia Lunch – The War is Never Over, directed by Beth B, about the iconic and irreverent American punk singer; For Lucio by Pietro Marcello, which focuses on the poetic imagery of the iconic Italian musician Lucio Dalla; and the Narodnaya Trilogy (Narodnaya, After Narodnaya and Comet) which will world premiere. These are three films by Russian filmmaker Vadim Kostrov that document the creation of a seasonal gallery in a small Russian industrial village that quickly becomes an important underground cultural hub where many urban artists and musicians come together driven by their freedom of spirit.
From the world of performing arts, the festival will present Gallant Indies, by Philippe Béziat, about a group of dancers preparing the contemporary adaptation of the baroque masterpiece by Jean-Philippe Rameau, that crosses different urban dances with operatic singing and storms the Bastille Opera in Paris; and Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra, a film by Nel Minchin and Wayne Blair about the renowned Australian Aboriginal dance company that marks the history of the Aboriginal rights movement.
High Maintenance: The Life and Work of Dani Karavan, directed by Barak Heymann, shows us a tender look on the life and legacy of the Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan, while from a sporting perspective, Doclisboa will world premiere the Portuguese Famille FC by André Valentim Almeida that follows the daily life of sport associations organized by Portuguese emigrants living in Île-de-France.
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
Renowned Israeli director Avi Mograbi returns to Doclisboa with The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation, described as a satire on the mechanisms of oppression in the 54-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Political and territorial issues are also present in the new film by Brazilians Carolina Canguçu, Roberto Romero, Sueli and Isael Maxakali, Nūhū Yãg Mū Yõg Hm: This Land is Our Land!. Also from Brazil, Paloma Rocha and Luís Abramo are once again part of at the festival with the international premiere of Tentehar – Sensitive Architecture, “which uses the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections as a motto to investigate and debate the identity of the country, increasingly divided in its political dichotomy,” says the festival.
American filmmaker Theo Anthony, director of the acclaimed Rat Film (Doclisboa 2016), is confirmed at the festival with All Light, Everywhere, as is fellow countryman Bill Morrison, who will return to Doclisboa with The Village Detective: a Song Cycle.
Factory to the Workers by Croatian Srđan Kovačević, will also be screened in this edition, which will herald Croatia as the Invited Country of Nebulae, Doclisboa’s space for industry.
The life of the last Soviet leader in Gorbachev. Heaven, directed by Vitaly Mansky; Cuban espionage in the 1990s in Castro’s Spies, by Ollie Aslin and Gary Lennon; and the pressing political and civic issues of Georgian citizens in Sunny by Keti Machavariani, complete the list of the first confirmed titles for this year’s edition.
The programme includes the already announced complete retrospective of Ulrike Ottinger, a unique figure in the New German Cinema, which includes an exhibition of her photographs, which will take place during the 19th Doclisboa between October 21 and 31.
