Colo

In Portugal, a father, a mother and a daughter’s daily lives are being subsumed by the effects of the economic crisis. This is a process which begins to influence their life together by degrees while their nicely furnished high-rise flat continues to tell a tale of different, bygone times. The unemployed father spends his days on the roof gazing at the horizon which no longer offers him a future. The mother returns home exhausted from working double shifts. Their adolescent daughter keeps her secrets to herself and wonders if there is enough money to pay her bus fare to school. Each time, the camera takes a step back – wide shots being preferred – in order to capture the mood. And yet what we are observing is not stasis but a tentative forward motion. The family members begin to shed their previous roles, their relationship to each other changes and unexpected possibilities start to reveal themselves. It may not be apparent to either father, mother or daughter but each of them has long since begun to take their lives in their own hands and to reshape them.
by Teresa Villaverde
with João Pedro Vaz, Alice Albergaria Borges, Beatriz Batarda, Clara Jost, Tomás Gomes, Dinis Gomes, Ricardo Aibéo, Simone de Oliveira, Rita Blanco
Portugal / France 2017 Portuguese 136’ Colour

With

  • João Pedro Vaz (Father)
  • Alice Albergaria Borges (Marta)
  • Beatriz Batarda (Mother)
  • Clara Jost (Júlia)
  • Tomás Gomes (João)
  • Dinis Gomes (Eel Fisher)
  • Ricardo Aibéo (Jaime)
  • Simone de Oliveira (Avó)
  • Rita Blanco (Sílvia)

Crew

Written and Directed by Teresa Villaverde
Cinematography Acácio de Almeida
Editing Rodolphe Molla
Sound Design Joël Rangon
Sound Vasco Pimentel
Production Design Maria José Branco
Costumes Rute Correia
Make-Up Sandra Pinto
Assistant Director Paulo Belém
Production Management António Gonçalo
Producer Teresa Villaverde
Executive Producer Teresa Villaverde
Co-Producer Cécile Vacheret
Co-Production Sedna Films Paris

Produced by

Alce Filmes

Additional information

Festivals:
Portugal Film - Portuguese Film Agency
Lisboa, Portugal
+351 21 3466172
portugalfilm@indielisboa.com
www.portugalfilm.org

Teresa Villaverde

Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1966, she began her career as an actress, co-writer and co-director at the theatre of the School of Fine Arts in Lisbon. She appeared as an actress in À Flor do Mar (Hovering Over the Water, dir. João César Monteiro), worked as an assistant to Paulo Rocha and as a co-writer with José Álvaro Morais and João Canijo. Since the 1990s she has directed her own films including A idade maior (The Major Age) which screened at the Berlinale in 1991. She made her international breakthrough in 1998 with Os Mutantes (The Mutants). In 2010 she founded her own production company Alce Filmes.

Filmography

1991 A Idade Maior (Am Ende einer Kindheit) 1994 Três Irmãos (Geschwister) 1996 O Amor Não me Engana; TV documentary 1998 Os Mutantes (Os Mutantes – Kinder der Nacht) 2001 Água e Sal (Water and Salt) 2003 A Favor da Claridade; documentary 2004 Visions of Europe; segment: “Cold Wa(te)r” 2006 Transe (Trance) 2011 Cisne (Swan) 2013 Venezia 70 – future reloaded 2014 Pontes de Sarajevo (Bridges of Sarajevo) 2016 Paris 15/16; short film · Colo

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017