Cinema Can Do Premieres: Fogo do vento

It’s no coincidence that one of the two films we’re presenting as Berlin premieres as part of our farewell program is from Portugal – on the one hand, the country has produced a conspicuously large number of formally innovative films; on the other, Arsenal has accompanied Portuguese filmmaking for a considerable time now and has made sure that it is adequately represented in Berlin. FOGO DO VENTO, the feature debut by Marta Mateus, was developed with non-actors in in Alentejo, with its entirely unique visual language serving as a suitable continuation of this tradition. Following the grape harvest, the land workers flee into the branches of the surrounding cork oaks in order to escape a dangerous black bull. There they talk about their lives, share bread and wine and exchange memories, dreams and fantasies that also summon up episodes from the history of Portugal: class struggles, the colonial war in Angola and the uprising against the Salazar regime. Landscape and body become woven together with the threads of history. (bik)
With the kind support of the Embassy of Portugal/Camões Berlim.