Country: Portugal
Year: 2004
Duration: 30'


The night of the summer solstice. Fireworks resound between the two banks of the river like a bombardment. On the water, boats appear and disappear. Lost in the dark, rich and poor dissolve under the coloured firework lights. Is it war? Is it the light of the sky descending upon them? Is it the Apocalypse? Is it a fresh new start or the end of the world has come?

"In 2000 I was asked to make a film about my native city, Oporto. As Sereias follows the festivities celebrating the summer solstice, Saint John in the river, the fireworks, childhood, desire, wine… When I look at my films, I find in them a recurring obsession with the shortest night of the year and the festivities of the summer solstice: A Raiz Do Coração takes place during the nights of the feast of Saint Anthony in Lisbon, and observes the wild feeling that takes over the people. During the 1960's, the feast of Saint John played a very important part in the dramaturgy of Mudar de Vida, which was filmed like a documentary. The actors Geraldo del Rey and Maria Barroso mixed in with the real fishermen in the dança da rada. […] In the same way, Isabel Ruth and Joana Bárcia dance with the people living along the banks of the Douro during the night of Saint John in O Rio do Ouro, sparking their jealousy […]. In Ilha dos Amores (1980), just about everything happens to Tokushima at night, during the dances celebrating the feast day of the dead (Bon Odori). The vital character Ko Haru dies and dances among the lights on the tombs during the feast day of the dead (Moraes, who thinks he sees the ghosts of the dead women he loved).Therefore, in this case, I am returning to a land that belongs to me in a special way. It's destiny, I always end up returning to the scene of the crime." (P. Rocha)

Biography

film director

Paulo Rocha

Paulo Rocha (Oporto, 1935) studied law in Lisbon and frequented film clubs. From 1959 to 1961 he lived in Paris, where he was an assistant to Jean Renoir and attended the IDHEC. His first film, Os Verdes Anos (1963) marked the birth of the new Portuguese cinema. Fascinated by the Far East and Japanese cinema, he was cultural attaché of the Portuguese Embassy in Tokyo for many years. During this time, he also completed the key film of his opus, A Ilha dos Amores (1980). Despite difficulties tied to production, he continued his work in Portugal, and became one of the mos

FILMOGRAFIA

Os Verdes Anos (1963), Mudar de Vida (1965), Sever de Vouga (cm, 1970), Pousada das Chagas (1971), A ilha dos Amores (1982), A ilha de Moraes (1984), O Desejado / Les Montagnes de la Lune (1987), Máscara de Aço Contra Abismo Azul (1988), Oliveira, o Arquítecto (1993), O Senhor Portugal em Tokushima (1993), Shoei Imamura, le Libre Penseur (1995), O Rio do Ouro (1998), Camões (1999), As Sereias (cm, 2001), A Raiz do Coração (2000), Vanitas (2004).

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