03/10/2005

In The Darkness of the Night has been selected to represent Portugal in the run-in for the forthcoming Oscars in the category for Best Foreign Film. The fifth feature film directed by João Canijo premiered in the Cannes 2004 sidebar section "Un Certain Regard", followed by an impressive circuit in international festivals, which included Montreal, Vancouver, São Paulo, Copenhagen, Bergen and Kerala. In Portugal, the film won the Globo de Ouro (golden globe) for best film and best actress (Beatriz Batarda).

After Ganhar a Vida (2001), focused on the neighbourhoods of Paris with Portuguese immigrants, In The Darkness of the Night marks the return of the director to stories set in small towns in the Portuguese countryside. Canijo's visceral style builds up a violent film about a family running a brothel. Its owner (Fernando Luís) decides to sell his young daughter (Cleia Almeida) to a Spanish prostitution network, but the girl is convinced that she has found a manager for her singing career. The elder sister (Beatriz Batarda) wants to help her. "A human tragedy, universal, and the sordid Portuguese world" – states the director.

Also candidate to the Luís Buñuel Award, which will be announced in two weeks in the Viña del Mar Festival (Chile), In The Darkness of the Night, a co-production between Madragoa Filmes(Portugal) and Gémini Films (France), supported by ICAM and the national public broadcaster RTP. The film became the sixth most successful Portuguese title in the 2004 national box office, attracting over 12.800 moviegoers.