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Cinema Elvire Popesco -
Thursday, December 11, 2014 - 20:00
Written by:
Pedro Bastos
Cast:
Francisco Dias de Castro, Vittorio Luciani
Cinematography:
Jorge Quintela
Editing:
Jorge Quintela
Sound:
Davide Luciani
Music:
Morteshopping
Producer:
Davide Luciani, Ricardo Freitas, Rodrigo Areias
Production:
Bando à Parte
Romanian premiere
Through a man’s glasses the reflection of a carousel keeps turning and turning while, through a voice over narration, his memories, wishes and regrets run through his mind like a vertigo. A single-shot film, CAROUSEL questions the notions of family and identity, asking whether we are defined by who we are or by the ones that surround us. Which family bond is stronger? The one you are born with or the one that you choose? With nostalgic sadness and thoughtful humor, the film becomes a poetic cinematic experiment, a fragment from the intimate diary of a man looking back at who he was, trying to understand who he is. (Bianca Bănică, BIEFF)
Director:
JORGE QUINTELA is a director of photography who graduated Photography and Audiovisual Arts, from the Escola Superior Artistica from Porto, in 2003. Since his graduation he has been working in cinema for short and feature film. He started working as an associate producer in 2005 and directed his first documentary, ON THE ROAD TO FEMINA, in 2010. His film AUSSTIEG earned him an honorable mention in the 18Th edition of the festival Curtas Vila do Conde and his short fiction film LOVE IS THE ANSWER TO LACK OF ARGUMENT won the prize for Best Portuguese Short at Fest Film festival 2012. His films are cinematography experiments with lyrical elements that hide strong feelings or memories.
Contact:
jorge.r.quintela[at]gmail[dot]com
Festivals, awards:
- Great Prize “Cidade de Vila do Conde” - Curtas Vila do Conde 2013
- Torino Film Festival 2013
- New Cinema Festival Montréal 2013
- São Paulo International Short Film Festival 2014
- Encounters Bristol International Film Festival 2014
- Tenerife International Short Film Festival 2014
- International Film Festival of Uruguay 2014
Curator's comment:
CAROUSEL concentrates in a single shot many levels of identity that merge inside a single person. Remembrance-forgetting and acceptance-denial are the forces that transform introspection into confusion for the protagonist. Trying to build a character that belongs to the filming location (Florence), the voice-over is in Italian and not in Portuguese (the director’s mother tongue) or in English (the language spectators would consider convenient). In this way, the character is establishing his identity on a double ground, trying to detach himself both from impersonating his father and from the convenient life with his wife and daughter (which could stand for the viewer’s expectations). The overlay of the two shots of the carousel turning fast in opposite directions (one of the carousel directly and one of its reflection in the man’s glasses), combined with the slow closing and opening of the man’s weary eyes gives the suggestion of two rhythms. The first makes one think of the past whose images run quickly, just before one being able to recall them clearly, while the second of the present, whose unmoving loneliness suggests the sadness and fatigue of having to carry a lifetime on one’s shoulders. (Bianca Bănică, BIEFF)
CAROUSEL concentrates in a single shot many levels of identity that merge inside a single person. Remembrance-forgetting and acceptance-denial are the forces that transform introspection into confusion for the protagonist. Trying to build a character that belongs to the filming location (Florence), the voice-over is in Italian and not in Portuguese (the director’s mother tongue) or in English (the language spectators would consider convenient). In this way, the character is establishing his identity on a double ground, trying to detach himself both from impersonating his father and from the convenient life with his wife and daughter (which could stand for the viewer’s expectations). The overlay of the two shots of the carousel turning fast in opposite directions (one of the carousel directly and one of its reflection in the man’s glasses), combined with the slow closing and opening of the man’s weary eyes gives the suggestion of two rhythms. The first makes one think of the past whose images run quickly, just before one being able to recall them clearly, while the second of the present, whose unmoving loneliness suggests the sadness and fatigue of having to carry a lifetime on one’s shoulders. (Bianca Bănică, BIEFF)