Terra que marca

Striking Land
Most films revolve around people. They are concerned with exploring how these people act, think and feel. At the same time, there is a growing realisation that anthropocentrism will create ever more severe problems as long as instrumental reason continues to shape our relationship to the environment. While theory has responded to such questions with the concept of the planetary turn, cinema has produced such films as Cow by Andrea Arnold, Le quattro volte by Michelangelo Frammartino, or Terra que marca by Raul Domingues.
Domingues shot his film in the hinterlands of Portugal. People appear, but only as one factor amongst others. Callused hands sow, weed, build and rake; stooped backs bring in the harvest. The gaze of the MiniDV camera gravitates toward the ground, catching sight of furrows in the soil, gullies caused by erosion, potato plants, weeds, a grazing horse, the imprint of tractor wheels in the mud. Tools and agricultural machinery feature just as prominently: a petrol-powered chainsaw, a plough, a mixing machine, a drum of liquid manure. Such precise observation of matter exerts a hypnotic pull.
by Raul Domingues
with Maria Alice Sousa, Manual Jesus Duro, Joaquim Sousa, Manuel Carpalhoso, José António Sousa, Luís Mil Homens, Manuel Carlos, Luís Carpalhoso, Edmundo Lisboa, Maria Alice Domingues
Portugal 2022 Portuguese 66’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Maria Alice Sousa
  • Manual Jesus Duro
  • Joaquim Sousa
  • Manuel Carpalhoso
  • José António Sousa
  • Luís Mil Homens
  • Manuel Carlos
  • Luís Carpalhoso
  • Edmundo Lisboa
  • Maria Alice Domingues

Crew

Director Raul Domingues
Cinematography Raul Domingues
Editing Raul Domingues
Sound Design Paulo Lima
Sound Tiago Matos
Producers Ico Costa, Krzysztof Dabrowski, Raul Domingues
Executive Producer Ico Costa

Etnograf Films

Raul Domingues

Born in 1991 in Leiria, Portugal. He graduated from the Caldas da Rainha School of Arts and Design and now works as an editor and director. After Flor azul (2014), Terra que marca is his second feature-length film.

Filmography

2013 Alice e Darlene; 8 min. 2014 Flor azul; 70 min. 2022 Terra que marca (Striking Land); 66 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2022