Concert
17 OCT | 11:30pm | Conservatório de Música de Seia

“MÚSICAS DO CINEMA PORTUGUÊS”
by Túlio Augusto and Maria Isabel Mendonça

 

Túlio Augusto and Maria Isabel Mendonça present a concert with musical works that marked a period in Portuguese cinema. Maria Isabel has collaborated with various artistic structures as a creator and performer in the fields of music and theatre. She has created and directed various cultural shows. She finds in the music of oral tradition a constant source of inspiration for the development of her artistic collaborations. Túlio Augusto has actively participated in the fields of classical and popular music, and his work has been presented in several countries. His authorial approach mainly uses elements of popular music and Brazilian music, as well as text and poetry as intertexts for inspiration and musical structuring.

The concert features the participation of special guests.

 

Opening Session
10 OCT | 9.30pm | Cinetheatre

Cineconcert “THE STONE DREAMS TO BLOSSOM”
From Rodrigo Areias and the composer Dada Garbeck.

The film concert A Pedra Sonha Dar Flor, by director Rodrigo Areias and composer Dada Garbeck (alter-ego of composer and musician Rui Souza) is an audiovisual work that re-adapts the literary universe of journalist and writer Raul Brandão.
In a guesthouse in Vila Húmus, lost deep in the marshlands, he survives in a dark time. K. Maurício, writer, dives into his work A Morte do Palhaço (The Death of the Clown), making himself a hostage to impossible dreams. Pita, a facilitator, manipulates words and people, having fun in a cynical game with everyone who surrounds him. Among crimes and hallucinations, the Gothic of the night and the decadence of the arena is a story without hope, based on the works of Raul Brandão.

Trailer: A Pedra Sonha Dar Flor

 

Special Session
13 OCT at 4pm | 17 OCT at 4pm | Cinetheatre

ECOS DA MONTANHA E DA PLANÍCIE in a Classic Double Session

CineEco continues its retrospective of Portuguese cinema through the programming of classics. This year, the festival includes a double session of two films recently digitalised by the Cinemateca Portuguesa: Trás-os-Montes and Cerromaior.
“Ecos da montanha e da planície” enable viewers to rewatch and interpret singular works of Portuguese cinema in the way they look at two large and ample regions, Trás-os-Montes and the Alentejo, which still today preserve a strong environmental, rural and social identity that should be nurtured in the face of new problems, challenges and opportunities.
This double session also serves as a celebration of the 50-year anniversary since the 25 April 1974 revolution, through two films shot, produced and premiered in a full democracy.

 

13 OCT | 4pm

TRÁS-OS-MONTES
From António Reis and Margarida Martins Cordeiro. Portugal. Docufiction. 1976. 110'

For 70 working days, in three different stages, starting September 1974, António Reis and Margarida Martins Cordeiro shot “Trás-os-Montes,” a colour feature film in 16mm. They travelled ten thousand kilometres and spent ten months in the editing room. The cast was composed of inhabitants from the Bragança and Miranda do Douro peripheries.

The session will be attended by Dr Sérgio Dias Branco, Associate Professor of Film Studies at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra, for the final debate.

Copy digitised by Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema.

 

17 OCT | 4pm

CERROMAIOR
From Luís Filipe Rocha. Portugal. Fiction. 1980. 90'

After a frustrated attempt to escape, an adolescent is reunited with his indolent family that dominates an Alentejo village by exploiting agricultural workers in a situation that was commonplace at that time, in the 1930s, when freedom was a distant dream hinted at by radio news of the Spanish civil war. The family’s torpor is represented by an arrogant and overpowering cousin, a symbol and a pillar of the consolidated fascist supremacy. The youngster’s trajectory is a journey amongst shadows and ghosts, conformity and prejudice, lunacy and suicide, rage and confrontation – seeking contact with others who sacrifice themselves, struggle on and do not wilt – until finding himself and hope for new horizons.

The session will be attended by director Luís Filipe Rocha.

Copy digitised and restored by Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema, as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. Measure part of the Next Generation EU programme.

 

Special Session
14 OCT | 2.30pm | Cinetheatre

SILVESTRES
From Carolina Castro Almeida and Miguel Cortes Costa. Portugal. Documentary. 2024. 54'

In "Silvestres" we embark on a journey into the creation of a wildflower meadow in the heart of the city of Oeiras aiming to counter the decline of pollinators, in the estate of the most controversial minister in the history of Portugal: Marquês de Pombal.
As a dedicated team of biologists brings a wildflower meadow to life, the film unfolds other captivating efforts, from capturing a barn owl residing in Marques' historic structures, symbolising urban wildlife resilience.
“Silvestres” paints a vivid portrait of a city shaped by the legacy of Marques de Pombal’s agricultural vision and the power of collective action, urging viewers to reflect on the possibilities of harmonising urban development with the natural world within their own communities.

The session will be attended by the filmmakers for a final talk.

Trailer: Silvestres

Special closing session
18 OCT | 9.30pm

ENERGIA NUCLEAR JÁ!
From Oliver Stone. EUA. Documentary. 2022. 105'

With unprecedented access to the nuclear industries of countries such as France, Russia and the United States, iconic director Oliver Stone explores the possibilities for the global community to overcome the challenges of climate change and achieve a brighter future through the power of nuclear energy - an option that could become a vital way of ensuring our survival sooner than we thought.

Trailer: Energia Nuclear Já!

Exhibition
10 to 18 OCT | Sala das Magnólias da Casa Municipal da Cultura

EXHIBITION “VIDEOARTE”

Among the many conceptual films that are shown every festival, this year includes a collection of productions that, given their more poetic and repeat projection dynamism, go beyond their merely cinematographic nature and show themselves more akin to a gallery format. These are works of videoart, which by combining moving images and plastic arts engender a different form of exercising the gaze, as the loop tool is available.

 

» Das feine Zirpen einer Dunkelziffer (Silent chirping of invisible Digits). Vera Sebert. Austria. Animation, Experimental. 2023. 10'11''

Like a single film frame, insects flash for the fraction of a second, only to immediately withdraw from the field of vision again. In between their flickering body fragments, the film shows undefinable voids. What can be seen when familiar filters of vision and the narratives associated with them are missing?

 

» Dispnea Paolo Bandinu, Germany. Animation. Experimental. 2024. 4'17''

Through a succession of frenetic images, the video conveys a state of anguish and anxiety towards an uncertain future. Images of gravitational anomalies and natural disasters such as floods, inundations, and recurring rogue waves alternate with flailing crowds in a race against time. The frantic escape at times almost transforms into a dance or a fight which however leaves no escape from an inevitable fate. The element of the recurring tidal wave, which overwhelms and swallows people and cities, depicts the extreme threat and represents the power and pain of nature that grips the figures. Using a non-narrative language, the flow of images tries to evoke chaotic and disturbing impressions, in a state of suffocating apnea, a metaphor for a common feeling of uncertainty and anguish in living our time.

Trailer: Dispnea

 

» Gone Soul. João Estrada. Portugal. Video-Music. 2023. 4'57''

A Woman returns to an ancient temple, haunted by living embodiments of her own memories, some more conscious than others. All of them, past and present, join in a chant about what they once had and now lost.

 

» Great Sale Wood. Michaela Davis. United Kingdom. Animation, Documentary, Experimental. 2024. 2'02''

A short, animated film crafted through the sustainable process of cyanotype, featuring over 2,800 hand-printed frames. Shot around a lake in London, the film explores themes of ecology and climate crisis. A study of interconnected beauty in nature, the film contains a score featuring digitally manipulated audio recordings of the lake.

 

» My Earth. Kim Jae Joon. Republic of Korea. Animation, Experimental. 2024. 3'49

Once upon a time in the universe, an alternative earth is formed and new life is born.

 

» Odociaba, Clara Campos, Bianca Bomfim, Brazil, Experimental, 2023, 3'30''

Odociaba is a sensory and spiritual experience, which seeks to awaken emotions, reflections and connections between humanity and the meaning of the waters. With a poetic approach, the film takes us on a transcendental journey through the primordial elements of life: water and soul

 

» Sueño finlandés y paranoico (Finnish and paranoid dream), Jimena Aguilar , Argentina, Fiction, Animation, Experimental, 2024, 7'

How to talk about the future when it seems there is no future? Maybe everything exploded and it only remains a voice full of images flowing. What is all this? The future? A prologue to the future?

Trailer: Sueño finlandés y paranoico

 

» Trees on Sand, Minhyeong Kil, Republic of Korea, Experimental, 2024, 5'52''

The shape of light that seeps through the trees and the texture of the sand that passes through them.

 

» War on humans. Cristian Tapies. Chile. Animation, Experimental. 2023. 5'16''

Jupiter and Saturn travel in an alignment not seen in four hundred years. The president of Chile declares war against a powerful enemy and the covid-19 pandemic devastates thousands of human lives, saturating the system on a global scale. Popular revolts break out in streets all over the world and repression increases. The world, on the verge of collapse, moves between the pornographic spectacle and the totalitarian discourses of power, accelerating the mechanisms of destruction. In this morality of masters and slaves, we are waging a suicidal war against nature, which irreversibly turns against us.

 

Exhibition
10 OCT to 30 NOV | Galerias da Casa Municipal da Cultura

EXHIBITION “ESTADO DA ÁGUA”
From Eunice Artur, Iana Ferreira, Inês Teles, Joana Patrão, Jorge Leal, Thierry Ferreira.

The “O Estado da Água” presents six artistic proposals, developed in the village of Sabugueiro and in the region surrounding the Serra da Estrela, in the context of a programme of art residencies funded by DGArtes. The focus of the project is the interpretation of the presence of water on the landscape based on approaches that express the diversity of the artistic visions. Eunice Artur takes us on a dive through graphical notation, exploration and sound composition. A journey beginning with submersed sounds that are inaudible to the human ear; Iana Ferreira travels the watery zones around Sabugueiro through photography and video capturing the aquatic textures and experiences; Inês Teles draws inspiration from the sculptural behaviour of the Annitella amelia larva, whose population in the Serra da Estrela is the only known example of this species in Portugal; Joana Patrão uses video to focus on the transformations of the water: from flow to snow, from mist to rain; Jorge Leal unveils the River Alva between Sabugueiro and Sandomil, based on the dragonflies that inhabit it, through drawings and sculptures; Thierry Ferreira tackles the water theme from the perspective of the constructed patrimony, exploring his relationship with water through sculpture, drawings, photography and video.

 

Exhibition
10 OCT to 30 NOV | Foyer do Auditório da Casa Municipal da Cultura

EXHIBITION “PLASTIC BITCH”
From Claúdia Clemente

Plastic Bitch is the mirror of today’s state of affairs of unbridled consumerism, extreme pollution, draining of natural resources, accentuated production of rubbish. This uncomfortable mirror reflects what we have become as a society: plastic bitches.

 

Exhibition
10 OCT to 30 NOV | Casa Municipal da Cultura e Largo da Câmara Municipal

INSTALAÇÕES ARTÍSTICAS “LINE”
From Clo Bougard

The artist has shown a growing interest over the years in the idea of using waste or obsolete objects as her main raw materials. Clo Bourgard has the opportunity to gather items in her artistic work from different scopes of action, putting them to use namely in art installations built from completely recycled materials to raise awareness about ecology and consequently the circular economy. All the work carried out for CineEco 2024 makes an appeal for sustainability. The “Line” project involves three art installations: White Line, an ode to the land in the form of a mountain; Green Line, an Installation interacting with the community; Mountain Line, built from natural resources collected on site that will be on display at the CineEco festival.

 

 

Presentation
17 OCT | 3pm | Garden of the Public Library

BOOK PRESENTATION "MEMÓRIAS"
From Amândio Silva

Amândio Silva was born in Lisbon, but his strong connection to Seia and CineEco has always been marked by his regular presence at the festival over the years.
His book Memórias is, according to Heloisa Paulo, ‘an autobiography made up of documents and accounts that paint a picture of the life of the man who, after all, is its genuine author. The lived experience and the memory of the facts are brought together here side by side, making up a unique and identifiable vision of a resistance fighter's past.’

 

Presentation
15 OCT | 5pm | Garden of the Public Library

BOOK PRESENTATION “UM OLHAR PORTUGUÊS: Cinema e Natureza no Século XXI”
From Filipa Rosário and José Duarte

‘How does contemporary Portuguese cinema represent nature? What motifs from the natural world animate Portuguese films released from the year 2000 onwards? What narrative, conceptual and aesthetic forces does our recent cinema find in this independent, continuous and simultaneous manifestation of life, that is, of its physical phenomena and beings?’ These were the questions that motivated Filipa Rosário and José Duarte to organise the book ‘Um Olhar Português - cinema e natureza no século XXI’ (A Portuguese Look - cinema and nature in the 21st century), which takes a panoramic look at more than forty films made by Portuguese filmmakers in the 21st century, thus proposing a mapping of very recent Portuguese cinema in the light of the idea of (physical) nature as a function of culture.

» Filipa Rosário will be at CineEco to present the book on 15 October at 5pm at the Seia Municipal Library.

 

Networking
11 OCT | 10am | Auditório da Casa da Cultura de Seia and Mercado Municipal de Seia

Market Meetings

Morning (10am): Auditório da Casa da Cultura de Seia
Afternoon: Mercado Municipal de Seia

CineEco sent out an invitation to film and audiovisual colleges throughout Portugal to bring their students to this one-day initiative, which comprises a networking opportunity for students and the players in the Portuguese filmmaking market. The youngsters will have the chance to pitch for a project (a feature-length film or short film, series, etc.) and/or present a short film they have produced linked to the topic of the environment, whether it is the main theme of the work or a side issue, so they can receive feedback from experienced professionals in the field. With a predominantly pedagogical and educational purpose, the idea of these Encontros do Mercado is to provide professional experience to the students so they can acquire extra skills for their future in the job market. The players (producers, executive producers, film exhibitors, distributers, etc.) are invited to give advice to the students with the specific goal of creating work opportunities and/or financing for their projects, and at the same time have the chance to meet emerging creative talents.

 

Talks
14 e 16 OCT | 5pm | Biblioteca Municipal de Seia

GARDEN TALKS

For the second year running and after last year’s success, the environmental cinema talks return in the late afternoons in the Garden of Seia Municipal Library. Directors, producers, technicians, actors, teachers, programmers and jury members are invited to speak about their experience and/or vision of cinema, and how the art form and cinematography has an impact on raising awareness about environmental issues. The public is a fundamental part of this interaction and is welcome to raise questions linked to the festival, cinema and the environment.