Tarrafal in "Expresso" newspaper
"Pedro makes the remains the narrative material. Where there were houses, schools, grocery stores, cafes, corners that each had as their own, all that was left was the wind moving through the abandoned land". (Valdemar Cruz)
You can read the full article here: https://expresso.pt/cultura/2016-12-30-Despojos-do-Tarrafal
"If and when someone decides to call something 'Tarrafal' that is not the Tarrafal—the one of infamy, shame, and torture, made into a concentration camp for opponents of Salazar's regime—what is being invoked is a memory of horror to name a reality that, while completely distinct, evokes in the present similar feelings of terror to those from a distant past.
Tarrafal was in Porto. Inside it contained the 'valley of lepers.' Once again, a metaphor. It was a way of evoking those who, by frequenting that space, had already begun a one-way journey through the degradation inherent in extreme drug dependency. This all took place in a social housing neighborhood located in the parish of Campanhã. It had a name blessed by the veneration of a saint: São João de Deus was the official designation, even though, for a long time, and not just because it had become a sort of drug supermarket, it came to be known by its nickname: Tarrafal.
Pedro Neves, one of the most promising young Portuguese documentary filmmakers, could not resist this story of desolation and abandonment. The essence of the neighborhood today is merely a memory, etched in the anguish of hundreds of families expelled during the terms of Rui Rio as mayor of Porto." (by Valdemar Cruz).
Dreams of a Revolution screening
Dreams of a Revolution was screened as part of the Vai e Vem film circuit, organized by Cinema Batalha, on September 26 at the Costume and Props Workshop of Teatro Nacional São João.
Lucefece: Where there is no vision, the people will perish in Centro Cultural do Sardoal
Lucefece, by Ricardo Leite, in Sardoal, Gil Vicente Cultural Center next October 2 at 21h30 with the presence of the director.
Cold Water and The Forgotten in Festa do Avante
Água Fria / Cold Water and Os Esquecidos / The Forgotten in Festa do Avante.
New documentary Neighborhoods premieres next Saturday 25th
Almost 30% of the population of Porto lives in council districts. It is a special experience when districts become small towns with their own customs and traditions.