05.11.25, 20:30, Trás-os-Montes (1976)

Roll up your sleeves and dig your feet into the earth, Kinoautomat ventures into the Portuguese wilderness.

In Trás-os-Montes, directing duo António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro explore the region of the same name in north-eastern Portugal, known for its chestnut trees and inhospitable beauty. Reis and Cordeiro approach the landscape and its inhabitants as a canvas on which to paint the Portuguese soul. With care and compassion, (they/them) camera glides past the lives of a number of locals as they struggle with the rhythm of nature. However, this series of micro-portraits transcends the merely documentary. When the boundaries between past and present blur, the everyday takes on a mythical character. The labour required by the land thus becomes part of a timeless poem that sings of the balance between man and his environment.

Our guest speaker delves into his own practice as a filmmaker with the ambiguities of documentary cinema. In his films, he carefully constructs arenas in which found characters can play themselves, reinvent themselves or question themselves. As soon as documentary dares to throw off the straitjacket of truth, infinite possibilities open up for small-scale magical cinema.

This screening will be introduced by filmmaker Sakis Brönnimann.