Serpentário

Serpentarius

Forum 2019

The opening titles say Carlos Conceição was born in Africa and left for Europe in his teens, his mother stayed behind. She said she wanted to adopt a bird that would live for 150 years, but only if he would take care of it when she died. The landscape the young man flies over afterwards can only be Africa too, mountains and great plains, antelope herds, earth the colour of an impossible clay. A woman speaks to him in voiceover when he lands, imploring him to come find her without delay and thus a journey begins. There will be roads, cities, boats and all manner of shimmering landscapes, although the path isn’t linear but governed by gleeful digression, folding back on itself, snaking through past, present and future and wandering off into different genres, as the size and texture of the image shifts and piano or violin replace synths. We see the man as a ruff-wearing colonialist, a gun-slinging cowboy, an astronaut in a retro spaceship, or just a hipster in jeans and sunglasses, but otherwise little changes, even as the end is nigh. He keeps on moving, the same playful, melancholy thoughts in voiceover, the same solitude, the rushing of the wind, the voices of birds.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Carlos Conceição (Written and Directed by)
with João Arrais Angola / Portugal 2019 Portuguese 83' Colour World premiere

With

João Arrais

Crew

Written and Directed by	Carlos Conceição
Cinematography	Carlos Conceição
Editing	Carlos Conceição with the support of Mariana Gaivão, António Gonçalves
Music	Hugo Leitão, Carlos Conceição
Sound Editing	Rafael Gonçalves Cardoso
Producers	Carlos Conceição Mirabilis (Angola), Mirabilis (Portugal), Margarida Ventura Mirabilis (Angola), António Gonçalves Mirabilis (Portugal)

World Sales

Agência – Portuguese Short Film Agency

Vila do Conde, Portugal

Produced by

Mirabilis

Lissabon, Portugal

Photos

Carlos Conceição

Born in Santa Clara, Angola in 1979. He earned a PhD in English and studied Film Directing and Sound Design. After several video installations and short films, he made his first feature-length film Serpentário.

Filmography

2007 No Escaping Gravity; 15 min., video installation · Criminal; 7 min., video installation 2010 Temporária 2 x; 12 min., video installation · Carne (The Flesh); 20 min. 2011 O Inferno (Hell, or Poolkeeping); 20 min. 2013 Versailles; 19 min. 2014 Boa Noite Cinderela (Goodnight Cinderella); 30 min. 2015 Acorda Leviatã (Wake Up Leviathan); 20 min. 2017 Coelho Mau (Bad Bunny); 33 min. 2019 Serpentário (Serpentarius)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019