11/07/2007

The Grupo Valentim de Carvalho, specialised in music recordings, has created a film branch, VC Filmes, to be run by Manuel Fonseca.

Aiming to produce "quality works based on Portuguese stories that local audiences can easily identify with", VC Filmes' first project will focus on the life and career of legendary Fado singer Amália Rodrigues, who died in 1999.

The choice is justified by the fact that Amália's life have never been adapted for the big screen, although some documentaries have been made about her, among them The Art of Amália, directed by Bruno de Almeida and backed by Valentim de Carvalho, which owns a considerable part of the rights of the singer's music legacy.

The project is still without a director or leading actress but VC Filmes has announced their intentions to release it theatrically in late 2008 or early 2009. In terms of the budget, Fonseca has advanced the notion of co-producing it with television broadcasters and with support from ICAM, and stated that his company was open to the practice of "product placement".

Fonseca is the former director of private broadcaster SIC and its cinema branch, SIC Filmes, which has backed 21 television films. Together with producer Alexandre Valente (see interview), Fonseca was one of the men behind the genesis of The Crime of Padre Amaro [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the biggest ever local box office hit.