Our Beloved Month of August (Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto) directed and written by Miguel Gomes
A FiGa Films release, Presented by the Embassy of Portugal
Portugal-France, 2008, 147 min, in Portuguese
Cast: Sonia Bandeira, Fabio Oliveira
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight
Deep in the Portuguese mountains, activities swell during the month of August. People come home, set off fireworks, fight fires, perform karaoke, jump off a bridge, hunt wild boar, drink beer, and make babies. Had director Miguel Gomes taken a straight forward approach to the subject, resisting the lure of the festivities, the synopsis for his film could be reduced to an account of the romantic relations of a father, his daughter, a cousin, and musicians in a dance hall band during the beloved month of August. Instead, Gomes has crafted a wonderfully chaotic hybrid of documentary and fiction which delicately captures the vibrant spirit of a local Portuguese community.
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Disappearing Act IV is organized by the Czech Center New York and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York in partnership with the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, the Belgian Tourist Office – French Speaking Belgium – Brussels Wallonia, the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia, the Consulate General of Estonia, the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic, the Consulate General of Slovenia, the Consulate General of Sweden, the Consulate General of Switzerland, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Embassy of Portugal, the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), Flanders House, the Goethe-Institut New York, the Hungarian Cultural Center, the IFC Center, Instituto Cervantes – The Cultural Center of Spain in New York together with Spain Culture New York – the Consulate General of Spain, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and with the support of the +421 Foundation, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, the Slovak Film Institute, and Wallonie Bruxelles Images. An official project of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), with the support of the EU Delegation to the United Nations. The festival is curated and produced by Irena Kovarova.
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