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Cidade Pequena

Small Town | Kleine Stadt
Berlinale Shorts 2017
When six-year-old Frederico finds out at school that people die when their hearts stop beating, he is unable to sleep that night. The next day, his mother asks the teacher once again: Must children always be told the truth? Always? In great, colourful tableaux, Diogo Costa Amarante illustrates the emotional world of Frederico and his mother. The framing of the pictures recalls the attention to detail present in paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Amarante’s eclectic narrative refers to his own subjective attitude towards narrative itself: “Words don't come easy, to me, how can I find a way, to make you see, I love you”.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Diogo Costa Amarante (Written and Directed by)
with Mara Costa Amarante, Frederico Costa Amarante Portugal 2016 Portuguese 19' Colour

With

  • Mara Costa Amarante (Mara)
  • Frederico Costa Amarante (Frederico)

Crew

Written and Directed by Diogo Costa Amarante
Cinematography Diogo Costa Amarante
Producers Miguel Dias, Diogo Costa Amarante

World Sales

Agência – Portuguese Short Film Agency

Vila do Conde, Portugal

Produced by

Diogo Costa Amarante

Lissabon, Portugal

Curtas Metragens CRL

Vila do Conde, Portugal

Photos

Diogo Costa Amarante

© Heinrich Völkel

Born in Porto in 1982, the Portuguese filmmaker studied cinematography and documentary at the Catalonia Film School in Barcelona. He then completed a master’s in film production as a Fulbright Scholar at the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His films The White Roses and Small Town both screened in Berlinale Shorts.

Filmography

2007 Jumate / Jumate 2009 In January, Perhaps · We have legs / Time flies 2011 Down here; short film 2013 As Rosas Brancas (The White Roses); short film 2017 Cidade Pequena (Small Town); short film 2021 Luz de Presença (A Present Light); short film

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021