19/03/2009

Initially scheduled for distribution in January, Midas Filmes is finally today releasing, on eight screens, the latest feature film by Portuguese director João Botelho, Northern Land [+see also:
film review
film profile].

After refusing to attach his name to Corruption [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2007), a film he directed but whose final cut was not his own, Botelho returned to arthouse cinema. Here, he takes on the challenge of adapting a novel by Agustina Bessa Luís, an author known for her complex literary works that often inspired Manoel de Oliveira's portraits of decadent northern bourgeoisie.

Inspired by the author, the memory of director José Álvaro Morais and the light of Caravaggio's paintings, Northern Land tells the story of Rosalina de Sousa, an emancipated actress-turned-baroness who frequented high society salons and possibly committed suicide. Her flamboyant personality and mysterious disappearance intrigues her descendants for several decades after her death.

Former Shooting Star Ana Moreira plays both the baroness and her descendants, changing not only costumes but acting registers as well.

Produced by Pandora Cunha e Telles for Lisbon-based Filmes do Fundo, the film has already played at several international festivals, including New York, Rio de Janeiro and Rome, where the international jury awarded it a special mention (see news).