Pedro Costa to engage in a residency at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola and to star in a session of the Zinemaldia + Plus program

Since the 2021-2022 academic year, Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola has been inviting prestigious filmmakers to live and work with the students’ community for short periods, within the Filmmakers in residence program. Throughout their stay (the duration of which will vary depending on the characteristics and stage of their projects and the point in the academic year at which the residencies are held), resident filmmakers work on the development of their new film project with the help and support of the school’s resources, while at the same time, they share their methodology and creative process with students of the Filmmaking Studies course. The aim is to open up a space for debate and to establish a practical film experimentation project with students.

Following Radu Jude’s residency last year, the next filmmaker in residence will be Pedro Costa (Lisbon, 1959). In addition, the Portuguese filmmaker will star in a session of the Zinemaldia + Plus program. Costa himself has chosen two films for this screening: Sicilia! (Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub, 1999) and Où gît votre sourire enfoui? (Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?) (Pedro Costa, Thierry Lounas, 2001), a filmmaker’s approach to the editing process of Huillet and Straub’s film and a tribute to the pair of filmmakers. This session will take place on June 3 at Tabakalera and will be presented by Costa.

For its part, Tabakalera will program on June 8 O sangue (Blood, 1989), recently restored under the supervision of the filmmaker.

Pedro Costa’s career

His first film, O sangue had its world première at the Mostra Cinematografica di Venezia, in 1989. Casa de Lava, his second feature, shot in Cabo Verde, screened in Cannes, in the Un Certain Regard section, in 1994. His next work, Ossos (Bones) was awarded an Osella d’Oro in Venice, in 1997. In 2014, Cavalo Dinheiro (Money Horse) won the Leopard for Best Direction at the Locarno Film Festival. Vitalina Varela won the Golden Leopard and the Best Actress Prize at the same festival, in 2019. Other feature films by this Portuguese director include No Quarto da Vanda (In Vanda’s Room, 2000); Où gît votre sourire enfoui? (Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?, 2001), which is codirected by Thierry Lounas and explores the work of Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub; Ne change rien (2009), and Juventude em marcha (Youth on the march, 2006), which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Precisely, his short film As filhas do fogo (The Daughters of Fire), his latest work to date, has been premiered in the Special Screenings section at the 76th edition of the French festival.

During his stay at EQZE, which starts on May 29, Pedro Costa will share his view of filmmaking with students on the Filmmaking Studies course, and will explain his method, which is based on hard work, consistency and rigour. His interest in production media, constant exploration of the different materials that make up a film, and firm commitment to representing reality will also make themselves present in the working sessions he runs, in which his filmography will be reviewed.

After Radu Jude and Pedro Costa, the next filmmaker in residence will be Rita Azevedo Gomes (Lisbon, 1952). This Portuguese filmmaker who directed movies such as Correspondências (Correspondences, 2016), A Portuguesa (The Portuguese Woman, 2018) and Danses macabres, squelettes et autres fantaisies (Danses Macabres, Skeletons and Other Fantasies, 2019), among others, will visit Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in November, soon after the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.

Filmmakers in residence forms part of EQZE’s academic and research residency plan and aims to combine support for the creative process of the selected filmmakers, who will all be engaged in a specific project, with the generation of a space for mutual learning, intergenerational knowledge transmission and joint film research and exploration by students and established filmmakers.

ZINEMALDIA + PLUS PROGRA

FILMMAKER IN RESIDENCY: PEDRO COSTA

ZINEA 1 - Saturday, June 3rd, 2023, 19:00 h

SICILIA!

DANIÈLE HUILLET (FRANCE), JEAN-MARIE STRAUB (FRANCE)

Country(ies) of production: Italy - France - Switzerland

The encounter between a mother and her son will rise reflections on family, tradition, food and death, alternating with black and white panoramas of the Sicilian environment, covering the whole space, but also the whole time.

OÙ GÎT VOTRE SOURIRE ENFOUI?

PEDRO COSTA (PORTUGAL), THIERRY LOUNAS (FRANCE)

Country(ies) of production: Portugal - France

Costa pays tribute to his mentors Straub-Huillet and records their demanding process in the editing of their film Sicilia! (1999). Costa’s film becomes a tour de force that the filmmaker considers both his first comedy and his first love story.

-----

* Pedro Costa will present the film at the cinema.