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FESTIVALS Portugal

Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival unveils the programme for its ninth edition

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- Twelve titles have been selected for the competition, among them João Salaviza’s feature debut, Montanha

Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival unveils the programme for its ninth edition
João Salaviza’s Montanha

With its ninth edition set to take place from 6-15 November, the Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival is expanding its screenings and parallel events to an unprecedented number of nine venues, bringing some of the most talked-about films of the year – most of them screened at major international showcases – to the Portuguese capital and the coastal city of Estoril (which in previous years had been the festival’s only location).

The main competition section – once exclusively focused on European titles – is now open to world cinema. Twelve titles will be vying for the festival’s top prize, which will be handed out by an eclectic jury including French actress Sabine Azéma, Austrian director Jessica Hausner, Israeli pianist Itamar Golan, French mathematician Cédric Villani and Polish photographer Andrei Andreievitch.

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The 12 titles are Jerzy Skolimowski’s 11 Minutes [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Jerzy Skolimowski
film profile
]
(Poland), Otar Iosseliani’s Winter Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France), Sharunas BartasPeace to Us in Our Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sharunas Bartas
film profile
]
(France/Lithuania), Lenny Abrahamson’s Room [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile
]
(Canada/Ireland), Brady Corbet’s The Childhood of a Leader [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France/Hungary/UK), Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France), Julio Hernández Cordón’s I Promise You Anarchy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Germany/Mexico), Gan Bi’s Kaili Blues (China), Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Journey to the Shore [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(France/Japan), Federico Veiroj’s The Apostate [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Spain/France/Uruguay), Bob Byington’s 7 Chinese Brothers (USA) and João Salaviza’s highly anticipated feature debut, Montanha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Salaviza
film profile
]
(Portugal). Salaviza’s film, scheduled for local theatrical distribution on 19 November, was first seen at the most recent Venice and San Sebastián Film Festivals.

The tantalising list of features continues in the out-of-competition section, which boasts a total of 18 titles, among them Andrew Haigh’s intimate drama 45 Years [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Andrew Haigh
film profile
]
(awarded at the latest Berlinale), Andrzej Żuławski’s comeback Cosmos [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Victória Guerra
film profile
]
(awarded at Locarno), Stéphane Brizé’s The Measure of a Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile
]
(awarded at Cannes) and Anna Muylaert’s The Second Mother, which is the Brazilian entry for the Oscars.

Only three films have been announced so far in the section entitled Promises, and one of them is the second Portuguese feature to screen at the festival (besides Montanha): the feature debut [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by TV director Patrícia Sequeira, Game of Checkers, featuring an impressive all-female cast (Rita Blanco, Maria João Luís, Ana Nave, Ana Padrao and Fátima Belo).

Other parallel sections include a retrospective on German director Wim Wenders, who will introduce his latest film, Every Thing Will Be Fine [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile
]
, starring James Franco and Charlotte Gainsbourg, as well as tributes to and retrospectives of Portuguese actor Luís Miguel Cintra, US director Jonathan Demme, German filmmaker Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, Iranian-born director Barbet Schroeder and US filmmaker David Gordon Green.

The film screenings will be accompanied by a series of complementary events. Among them is a symposium named Bigger Than Life, organised by Portuguese philosopher José Gil, which will examine the connection between madness and artistic creation. It will include a study of Robert Rossen’s 1964 film Lilith, whose lead character, played by Jean Seberg, was a schizophrenic artist. Participants include director Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, writer Juan Goytisolo, psychiatrist Françoise Davoine, choreographer Yvonne Rainer and pianist Maria João Pires.

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