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PRODUCTION Portugal

The shoot is under way for Porto

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- The debut fiction feature by Brazilian director Gabe Klinger is being executive-produced by Jim Jarmusch and co-produced by Portugal’s Rodrigo Areias

The shoot is under way for Porto
Actors Anton Yelchin and Lucie Lucas on the shoot for Porto (© João Fitas)

Over a number of days, the city of Porto is playing host to the shoot for the feature film Porto (working title Porto Mon Amour), directed by Brazilian filmmaker Gabe Klinger. The movie, which boasts the involvement of US director Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) as executive producer, is co-produced by Portugal’s Rodrigo Areias (of Bando à Parte). It is also being backed by the Porto City Council as part of the new municipal strategy to promote the city on the international stage.

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Porto, which was unveiled to the local press yesterday, is a love letter to the city; its release is scheduled for 2016, it stars US actor Anton Yelchin and French actress Lucie Lucas and is narrated by Chantal Akerman. Their characters spend a night together in Porto – a night that will change their lives forever and will be narrated in the film across three separate periods of time, using three contrasting narrative approaches and aesthetic styles.

With Porto, Klinger is thus taking on his debut fiction feature, after having won the Best Documentary Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2013 with Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater, which was already co-produced by Areias. For the director, who had initially planned to film a similar story in Athens, shooting in Porto ended up being the ideal solution, for both urban-planning and architectural reasons, as it allowed him to include a number of obvious traces of how the centuries have gone by within this one, single setting. “The question of the passage of time is pivotal to the story, also because the characters are archaeologists,” he added.

Supported to the tune of almost €75,000 by the Porto City Council, in addition to the usual tax benefits offered by the Porto Film Commission, Porto represents the first major municipal investment in a film production. According to the mayor, Rui Moreira, the backing is part of a new strategy to promote the city on the international stage. While the sights of Porto have been portrayed countless times in Manoel de Oliveira’s works, until now they have not been “on the map” for international productions, something that could now happen in future: “Porto is available for those who are looking for it,” assured head of culture Paulo Cunha e Silva.

In addition to PortoO Sentido da Vida, by Portuguese director Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, which was shot partly in the city as well as in various other places around the world (read more), also has backing from the Porto City Council under its belt.

The idea of taking advantage of the more cinematic side of certain cities has already been put into practice for years in other countries. Vicky Cristina Barcelona [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Woody Allen and the omnibus films Paris, je t'aimeNew York, I Love You and Rio, eu te amo are the most iconic examples of a strategy that harmoniously brings together film, tourism and economic benefits.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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