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FESTIVALS Portugal

Lisbon and Estoril MEO Film Festival all set for its eighth edition

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- Among the guests at the gathering will be US director Abel Ferrara, who will be presenting his two latest films, Welcome to New York and Pasolini

Lisbon and Estoril MEO Film Festival all set for its eighth edition
Willem Dafoe in a scene from Pasolini

Yesterday saw the unveiling of the programme for the eighth edition of the Lisbon and Estoril MEO Film Festival, which will get under way on 7 November with Saint-Laurent [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Bertrand Bonello
film profile
]
by French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello and Winter Sleep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile
]
by Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The honour of closing the gathering on 16 November will be given to Mommy, the fifth film by Canadian director Xavier Dolan. All three titles have the seal of approval from the latest Cannes competition, thus outlining the leitmotif of the festival’s programme, which will above all see Portugal welcome films that have won awards or that were selected at this year’s major festivals.

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There are a total of 12 films in the competitive section: Amour fou [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Jessica Hausner, Beautiful Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaime Rosales
film profile
]
by Jaime Rosales, Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Li'l Quinquin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Bruno DumontSilvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan, Christian Petzold’s Phoenix [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile
]
, Hill of Freedom by Hong San Soo, John Boorman’s Queen and Country [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: John Boorman
film profile
]
, Angels of the Revolution by Aleksei FedorchenkoTwo Gun Shots [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Martín RejtmanHeaven Knows What by Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie, and Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Labour of Love. Only one of them will end up being the big winner, chosen by a jury comprising US photographer Nan Goldin, French artist Philippe Parreno, Greek playwright Dimítris Dimitriádis, Polish author Dorota Maslowska and Portuguese artist Francisco Tropa.

Some of the most eagerly awaited films at the event are in the out-of-competition section, and they will also be accompanied by some special guests. John Malkovich, whose latest work, Casanova Variations [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, will be screening at Estoril, following its premiere at San Sebastián, will be in attendance to introduce the film and to promote Sandro Miller’s photography project, in which the US actor recreates some of the most iconic images of all time.

American director Abel Ferrara will also be gracing the event with his presence in order to introduce his two latest movies: Welcome to New York [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, based on the sex scandal involving the former managing director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn; and Pasolini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abel Ferrara
film profile
]
, which focuses on the life of the Italian poet/filmmaker, played by Willem Dafoe, who is himself another of the festival’s guests. The cast of Pasolini also features Maria de Medeiros, who is one of the guests of honour at this year’s gathering (read more) and will read out a selection of Pasolini’s written works at a special event.

Among the other movies that we could highlight out of competition are Miss Julie [+see also:
trailer
interview: Liv Ullmann
film profile
]
by Liv Ullmann, Kommunisten by Jean-Marie Straub, David Lynch’s Duran Duran: UnstagedMaps to the Stars [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
by David Cronenberg, Nick Cave: 20,000 Days on Earth [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, and The Postman's White Nights by Andrey Konchalovsky.

The programme also includes retrospectives dedicated to Kléber Mendonça Filho, Philippe Garrel, Tariq Téguia, Andrzej Zulawski, Gonzalo García Pelayo and Marlen Khutsiev.

Alongside the film screenings, the festival is also organising a symposium entitled “Fiction and reality: beyond Big Brother” from 14-16 November, which will examine international surveillance issues. The editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been announced as one of the attendees at this event.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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