18th Edition Doclisboa | Opening and Closing Sessions

We announce the opening and closing sessions of Doclisboa’20.

The 18th edition of the festival opens with Nheengatu – A Língua da Amazónia, by José Barahona, a world premiere at Culturgest, with the presence of the filmmaker. The closing session presents Paris Calligrammes, the documentary by German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, premiered at Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival.

Nheengatu – The Language of the Amazon takes us on a journey along the Negro River, on the trail of this language imposed on indigenous people by the first Portuguese colonialists who landed in Brazil in the 15th century. Throughout the various encounters with local communities that still speak this language, the director faces the different cultural, historical and social issues that confront tradition and future.

Nheengatu – The Language of the Amazon
Directed by José Barahona
2020| 114 min | Brazil, Portugal
Produced by Carolina Dias (Refinaria Filmes) / Fernando Vendrell (David & Golias)

In Paris Calligrammes, by Ulrike Ottinter, we go through the director’s memories of the exuberant Paris of the 60s, where she lived between 1962 and 1969, revealing the encounter with so many essential names of the most diverse artistic movements such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir or Jean Rouch and with the political issues that shaped that period, such as the independence of Algeria and the student revolts of May 1968, which were fundamental in her formation as an artist. Ottinger shares a poetic kaleidoscope of photographs and narratives and an intimate diary of her experiences marked by the Parisian artistic and intellectual scene.

Paris Calligrammes
Directed by Ulrike Ottinger
2019 | 129 min | Germany, France
Produced by Corina Ziller, Claire Lion

The next edition of Doclisboa takes place in six moments, over six months, with the first one taking place in October, between the 22nd October and 1st November. The Retrospective that marks this edition, announced last June, is dedicated to Georgian cinema, under the motto The Permanent Travel – The Restless Cinema of Georgia. Check full programme here.