Documentary cinema is in the spotlight in Lisbon for 10 days, at the 24th edition of Doclisboa. The programme, which takes place in various venues, shows several national and international premieres, a set of works by established names and new talents in filmmaking, who offer a unique and contemporary look at the world. The festival opens with the film Guerrilha no Asfalto (Guerrilla on the Asphalt), by Edgar Pêra, based on the book of the same name by Manuel Ricardo Sousa, in which the accounts of a former FP-25 operative intersect with his memories of the 1980s. A narrative built between archives, fiction and artificial intelligence. The Portuguese films programmed traverse history, music, literature, thought and memory. Amílcar Cabral is revealed, through his writings, letters and archives, in Amílcar, by Miguel Eek. The daily life of the Casa do Artista is portrayed in Casa do Artista, Não é Permitido Envelhecer (Casa do Artista, Growing Old Is Not Allowed), by Solveig Nordlund. The experiences of the city of Lisbon are rethought in O Nosso Último Filme sobre Lisboa (Our Last Film About Lisbon), by the collective Left Hand Rotation. Among the Portuguese productions, also noteworthy are: Neste Quarto (In This Room), by Ana Rocha de Sousa, which follows fado singer Carminho on a tour of Japan; and Carta a Uma Jovem Escritora (Letter to a Young Writer), by Marta Pessoa, which introduces five Portuguese writers whom the filmmaker considers “unjustly forgotten”: Olga Gonçalves, Graça Pina de Morais, Maria Cecília Correia, Alice Sampaio and Maria Amélia Neto. Figures who are part of the history of cinema are usually highlighted at Doclisboa. This year, Vittorio De Sica is one of the names honoured in Vittorio De Sica, Staging Life, by Francesco Zippel, a documentary that offers an intimate portrait of the Italian director and actor, precursor of neorealism. Also the great master and visionary Orson Welles is presented in Orson Welles: The One-Man Band, a 1995 film directed by Oja Kodar and Vassili Silovic, which brings together rare images of Welles's unfinished projects. The documentary offers a look at the ideas, dreams and never-completed short films of one of the most important filmmakers in the history of cinema. The actress Juliette Binoche makes her debut as a director with In-I In Motion, a film in which she revisits her collaboration with dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. In 2007, the two created In-I, a daring work that toured the world. Through previously unseen images, Binoche reflects on the creative process and her personal transformation.
Also the Scottish artist Douglas Gordon, winner of the Turner Prize, is the central subject of Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon, by Finlay Pretsell, a documentary that reveals his turbulent relationship with the world and with creation. David Graves, son of the late filmmaker William Graves, presents Once Upon a Time in Harlem, which goes back to 1972, to a meeting between surviving members of the Harlem Renaissance, the African-American cultural and intellectual movement that emerged in the 1920s and 30s. Two women with unforgettable voices are the focus of two works: Elza, by Eryk Rocha, about Elza Soares, a Brazilian artist whose talent crossed generations; and Kate Bush, The Timeless Genius, by Sonia Gonzalez, which revisits the early years and career of an artist who has marked and continues to influence pop culture. Nino, A Film About Nino Rota, by Walter Fasano, revisits the life and work of the Italian composer Nino Rota. Music is also at the centre of two Portuguese films: Esta Vida de Marinheiro, by Paulo Miguel Antunes, about the journey of João Aguardela; and Nha Balila, Dentu d'Algem, by Inês T. Alves and André Xina, which follows the living legend of Batuku, Nha Balila. Literature runs through several films in the programme. Highlight for Siri Hustvedt, Dance Around the Self, by Sabine Lidl, which narrates the life of the writer Siri Hustvedt, a major figure of contemporary thought, who was Paul Auster's partner. Also noteworthy are Filme do Meio, by Margarida Gil, which introduces the creative process and friendship between two great names of Portuguese literature, Maria Velho da Costa and Armando Silva Carvalho, and Carta a José Bragança de Miranda, by Edmundo Cordeiro, which offers a portrait of the philosopher. Also worth mentioning is Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, by Alex Gibney, a film about the attack suffered by the author of the book The Satanic Verses, inspired by autobiographical memoirs. AF. Programme here. Doclisboa documentary festival.