New Delhi : Paloma decides to realise her most cherished fantasy on a hot summer day: a traditional wedding in a church with her boyfriend Zé. She works hard as a farmhand on a papaya plantation and is a dedicated mother. She has been saving up money for this long cherished dream. However, as the local priest refuses to officiate her wedding, her fantasy gets a reality check. This transgender lady experiences abuse, betrayal, bigotry, and injustice, yet her faith and resolve remain unfazed. From the storied land of Portugal, Paloma has arrived at the 53rd edition of IFFI and is contesting in the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal category.
Still from the movie Paloma (2022) directed by Marcelo Gomes
Other films of Portuguese origin, delegates can enjoy at the 53rd edition of IFFI are Great Yarmouth (2022) directed by Marco Martins and Pacifiction (2022) directed by Albert Serra.
With a history going back all the way to 1896 and a host of totemic names in its cannon, the story of Portuguese cinema is one that interests all movie buffs. Six months after the Lumiere brothers made history, on 18 June 1896, at the Real Colyseu da Rua da Palma nº 288, in Lisbon cinema in Portugal was born. A Severa, the first entirely talking sound Portugese film, was created in 1931. Shortly Portugese Cinema would enter its Golden Age, which began in 1933 with A Canço de Lisboa, and would extend for the following 20 years, with movies like O Pátio das Cantigas (1942) and A Menina da Rádio (1944). Such was the dynamism of the Portugese cinema world that Manoel de Oliveira’s debut feature, Aniki-Bóbó (1942), featured a kind of realist aesthetic that was a year ahead of the much celebrated Italian neorealism.
Get a glimpse of this celebrated legacy of Portuguese filmmaking at the 53rd edition of IFFI and experience the many stories that Portugal has to tell, through Paloma, Yarmouth and Pacifiction.
Still from the movie Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures
Still from the movie Pacifiction
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