Curtas Vila do Conde - International Film Festival highlights, yet again, the crossing between cinema and music at the Stereo section, with concerts, film sessions and a music videos competition. In 2017, the festival hosts shows from Mão Morta, Capitão Fausto, Pega Monstro, Evols, Chassol and Atlantic Coast Orchestra.
In 8 july, the talented musicians Atlantic Coast Orchestra, directed by the maestro Luis Clemente, will interpret, live at Curtas Vila do Conde, a soundtrack written by the composer Andrew E. Simpson, for the classic silent film from Buster Keaton, The General (1926). The comedy accompanies Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) during the pursuit of a band of spies that hijacked his train, The General , with his bride Annabelle (Marion Mack) on board. Created in 2015, the Atlantic Coast Orchestra is an innovative project that gathers some of the best young professional musicians, developing a musical activity with high artistic standards.
On 12 july, the french Chassol presents himself for the first time with a surprising audiovisual show where he is going to present one of his most recent projects, Big Sun. Pianist, composer, arranger and music producer, Christophe Chassol has been getting the attention of the critics and conquering the admiration of musics like Franck Ocean, Flying Lotus, Solange and Thundercat. On his works, Chassol intends to "harmonize what is real", scoring life, the world and everything he finds and relates, on a technique that he named "ultrascore". His compositions articulate voices, music, sounds, and images, transforming them in singular audiovisual objects. On stage, images and recordings are combined with music, sort of an improvise where nothing is standard but everything flows naturally. The concert at Curtas Vila do Conde will be a multisense show and an unique opportunity to witness the musical genius of the frenchmen.
Capitão Fausto, one of the most acclaimed bands of the year, bring to Curtas Vila do Conde, on 14 of july, the album Os Capitão Fausto têm os dias contados, on an unique and original concert. At this show, the rock band from Lisbon presents itself on a special format, playing songs like Corazón, Amanhã Tou Melhor and Morro na Praia, while revisiting the moments that where on the creation of those songs through excerpts of the documentary Pontas Soltas. Directed by Ricardo Oliveira, the film, presented at Curtas Vila do Conde on a new version, follows the creative process and also the backtage of the recording of the third album of the group.
On the same year that mark the 25th anniversary of Mutantes S21, Mão Morta go up on stage of the Teatro Municipal, on saturday 15 july, to a complete presentation of the mythic album. Adolfo Lúxuria Canibal band returns to the festival where it performed nine years ago, for a concert that celebrates the record that placed Mão Morta on the radar of the portuguese rock. This concert will revisit all the songs from Mutantes S21 and a selection of other works from the band. Using as a premiss the special edition of the album that in 1992 was launched with a comic book, Mão Morta have invited 15 portuguese illustrators - Alex Gozblau, André Coelho, André Covas, Ângela Vieira, António Gonçalves, Esgar Acelerado, João Lemos, João Maio Pinto, José Carlos Costa, Marco Mendes, Marco Moura, Miguel Ogoshi, Raquel Costa, Sebastião Peixoto and Tiago Manuel - to create a work that points to each of the record theme. Over those illustrations, João Martinho Moura, Digital Art artist, will create a visual work, performing live with the band.
The Auditório Municipal of Vila do Conde - place that hosted the first 18th editions of Curtas Vila do Conde and where the festival returns in 2017 to mark the 25th anniversary - receives the bands Evols (9 july) and Pega Monstro (10 july) to presentation concerts of their new albuns Evols III and A Casa de Cima, respectively.
The price for the tickets of these shows cost between 5 and 14 euros and are for sale at Teatro Municipal of Vila do Conde and on Bilheteira Online. The holders of the festival's Free Pass have free access, except for the the concerts of Mão Morta and Capitão Fausto, for which they have a 50% discount. This general pass, for sale exclusively at the Curtas Vila do Conde website for 35 euros, assures also the acces to all film sessions.
On the Stereo section there will be presented, on 13 july, Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith, directed by Stuart Staples, the frontman from Tindersticks, band the sold out two shows at Curtas Vila do Conde in 2015. This film is a tribute to the pioneer work of F. Percy Smith, inventor and filmmaker from the early 20th century that developed cinematographic capture technics of the nature secrets on action. Using found footage from F. Percy Smith himself and using the musical experience of Stuart, the film creates a silent narrative that opens room to new readings on the original work of the British documentarian. The feature film has an original soundtrack from Tindersticks, in collaboration with Thomas Belhom and Christine Ott.
The Music Video Competition will present once again a selection of the best portuguese music videos, innovative on the art of combining music and cinema. Always trying to keep up with the evolution of the genres and the filmmaking way, dedicated on the latest years exclusively to national production, has screening works from some of the artists that stand out on the area, amonsgt them André Tentugal, Vasco Mendes, Paulo Furtado and Rodrigo Areias.
The 25th Curtas Vila do Conde, that runs between 8 and 16 of july, has the support of the MEDIA/Europa Criativa program, the Municipality of Vila do Conde, the Ministry of Culture, the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual and several other important partners to the organization of the festival.
Curtas Vila do Conde - International Film Festival returns between 8 and 16 of July with a special edition: The 25th anniversary. To mark this date, the festival will present a commemorative program and returns to Auditório Municipal of Vila do Conde, place that witness the birth of the event in 1993.
Throughout these 25 years, Curtas Vila do Conde has been presenting an ecletic programming, screening the major tendencies of contemporary cinema, aiming, at the same time, to be a vanguard festival and also creating an intersection between cinema and other areas of art. In 2017, the festival is preparing a commemorative edition where it still insists on inventing the future, along with celebrating a quarter of a century of history.
One of the initiatives that is part of the 25th anniversary festivities is the presentation of a book that gathers 25 thought, memory and fiction texts, inspired on the experience of their authors at Curtas Vila do Conde. These 25 texts are from 25 individuals from areas such as cinema, music, journalism and literature: José Miguel Gaspar (journalist); Marcos Cruz (journalist), Pedro Marta Santos (writer and journalist); João Lopes (movie critic); Valter Hugo Mãe (writer); Manuela Azevedo (Clã); Eduardo Brito (screenwriter, director and photographer); Francisco Ferreira (movie critic); Inês Meneses (journalist); Inês Nadais (journalist); Jorge Mourinha (journalist); João Faria (designer); Ricardo Alexandre (journalist); Rodrigo Affreixo (journalist); Pedro Paixão (writer); Sabrina Marques (movie critic); Adolfo Luxúria Canibal (Mão Morta); Cláudia Marques Santos (journalist); Miguel Gomes (director); Paulo Furtado (The Legendary Tigerman); Rui Poças (photography director); Tiago Alves (journalist); Daniel Ribas (critic and cinema programmer); António Rodrigues (cinema programmer) e José Vieira Mendes (journalist).
Not just historical visions, these texts are also secrets and memories that intersect with the time at Vila do Conde from each author, as guests and participants of former editions of the festival. Some of those memories bring forth the Auditório Municipal, the place that hosted the first 18 editions of Curtas Vila do Conde and where the festival returns, in 2017. with special sessions, concerts, performances and a photographic exhibition.
Along with the presentation of the book, the 25 authors of each publication where invited to select a film, presented on a previous edition of Curtas Vila do Conde, for a lenghtly Carte Blanche. These choices will be sorted between several film sessions that will screen works from filmmakers like Manoel de Oliveira, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Maya Deren, Artavazd Pelechian, Chris Marker, Hal Hartley, Miguel Gomes, Matthias Müller, Man Ray, Gus Van Sant and João Pedro Rodrigues, amongst others.
As a preview to the festival, on the 1st of July, Curtas Vila do Conde presents at Cinemateca Portuguesa a special session with a selection of films that are part of this Carte Blanche.
The 25th edition of Curtas Vila do Conde program, that will be announced on the coming weeks, will have as a primary focus the short film competitions - Nationalm International, Experimental, Curtinhas (films to youngsters and children), Take One! (school films) and Music Videos -, a surprising selection of recent films that emerged from different countries. At the In Focus section, the filmography from an acclaimed filmmaker will be screened at the festival. The bold program will, yet again, bet on the intersection between cinema and music at the Stereo section, where moving images are reinterpreted by bands and musicians in live shows. At Solar - Cinematic Art Gallery, the cinema will be submitted into a gallery context, on a collective exhibition that opens during the festival. Thinking on the public education, Curtas Vila do Conde will promote yet again a film critic workshop and Curtinhas, a section dedicated to the younger audience, with films, ateliers and workshops. The debates with directors and agents of the audiovisual market will still be part of the festival week, providing a space for creative sharing. Also, the usual Panorama sections - Portuguese and European - will screen short films of recent production.
During nine days in July, the festival will be a meeting point between directors, producers, journalists, programmers, students and an enthusiastic audience, on an opportunity to see over 250 films from all around the world and to participate in meetings and debates about the industry with roughly 450 guests and professionals.
The 25th Curtas Vila do Conde has the support from MEDIA/Creative Europe, the municipality of Vila do Conde, from the Ministry of Culture, from the Cinema and Audiovisual Institute (ICA) and several partners, fundamental to the accomplishment of the festival.
