29/01/2016 - Edgar Pêra is presenting his latest film, O Espectador Espantado, in 3D

Portuguese cinema is beginning 2016 in good shape with a strong presence in the first showcases of the year. While we await the Berlinale – where among others we will discover, in competition, Ivo Ferreira’s latest film, Letters from War [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Ivo M Ferreira
film profile] (read more) – Portuguese (co-)productions are currently already trying their luck at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which unspools until 7 February.

Where I Grow Old [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Brazilian director Marília Rocha is one of the contenders for the Hivos Tiger Awards (read more). Co-produced by Portugal (João Matos) and Brazil (Luana Melgaço), the film centres on two young Portuguese women trying to put down roots in Brazil. Rocha, known chiefly as a documentary maker until now, used non-professional actors for her feature-length fiction debut, which is also a love letter to the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte.

Indie director Edgar Pêra is also heading to Rotterdam with his latest adventure in 3D, O Espectador Espantado, which features interviews with a variety of writers and thinkers about the nature of watching films. Rodrigo Areias from Bando à Parte produced.

One of the most highly anticipated Portuguese films of 2015, Montanha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Salaviza
film profile] by João Salaviza, is also part of the Rotterdam line-up, as is the German-Portuguese co-production Fado [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Rothlaender
film profile] by Jonas Rothlaender, which was partially filmed in Lisbon last year (read more) and was produced by Primeira Idade (read more).

There is a small contingent of short films, too, including A Trama e o Círculo by Mariana Caló and Francisco Queimadela, Los Barcos by Dominga Sotomayor, Undisclosed Recipients by Sandro Aguilar, and A glória de fazer cinema em Portugal by Manuel Mozos.

Portugal’s filmmaking sensation Miguel Gomes is part of the Hivos Tiger Awards jury and is also presenting his popular Arabian Nights [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miguel Gomes
film profile] trilogy.