THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE
11:00 AM MASTERCLASS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, TO FOLLOW
As Filhas do Fogo
Portugal | 2023 | 9 min
In an abstract space, three women, isolated from each other, sing their sorrows. It is a heart-rending melody of grief and loneliness. Their faces question the gaze of the beholder. They left their homes and now live in a foreign country. But why did they leave? Why this excruciating song? Change of scene: the night gives way to images of a beautiful, but devastated landscape. The shots were taken in 1951 in Fogo, a volcanic island of Cabo Verde, the day after one of many eruptions. A blanket of ash covers the land; some people – survivors, or ghosts – get close to the camera. An extraordinary short film that shows the transfiguring power of the cinema of Pedro Costa, the visionary dimension of his images, which succeed in displaying the reality of the suffering of the last by way of the powerfulness of singing and music – signs of the deep bond between human beings. (d.d.)
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: 11 Nov 2023
- Time: 5:00
Location
- Cinema La Compagnia - Via Camillo Cavour, 50/R, 50121 Florence
Organizer
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Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa is one of the most important directors in contemporary Portuguese cinema. Born in 1959, he studied history and art history at the University of Lisbon before starting to work as an assistant director for some of the most prominent Portuguese directors, including João César Monteiro and André Téchiné. His career as a director began in 1989 with the film O Sangue, presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section. Since then, he has directed numerous films that have been screened at major international festivals such as the Venice Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. His film In Vanda's Room (2000) won the FIPRESCI prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was selected to represent Portugal at the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category. With his subsequent films Colossal Youth (2006), Horse Money (2014), and Vitalina Varela (2019), Costa continued to work with the same non-professional actors who live in a poor neighborhood of Fontainhas in Lisbon. His work has received numerous awards worldwide, including the Best Film award for Vitalina Varela and the Best Director award for Horse Money at the Locarno Film Festival. Costa is known for his unique aesthetic, which often relies on long static shots and a creative use of light and shadow, for his attention to detail and composition.
