With luck, you met Andre Valentim Almeida during his time as a participant last year in the UnionDocs Collaborative. While also researching his dissertation on interactive documentary for a PhD at the University of Porto, Andre was a fixture at our public events, attending more screenings, discussions, and panels than anyone not on the staff. It was a surprise to find out that over the course of the year, he was simultaneously able to edit a 60 minute documentary titled Uma na Bravo Outra na Ditadura, a portrait of the generation born just following the Carnation Revolution of April, 1974, which effectively changed the Portuguese regime from an authoritarian dictatorship to a democracy.
The film includes interviews with famous musicians, comedians, journalists and other personalities of Portuguese society, who attempt to define themselves as children of the revolutionaries and contemplate both the promises and the actual effects of social change. The project was recently released online for free to a frenzy of domestic downloads and lots of dialog and debate on the subject in print and online media. As a member of the population sometimes called “the junk generation,” Andre certainly knows his audience and claims the film’s pop cultural and political references will likely be lost on those not brought up at that time in Portugal. Still, we hope to have the chance to see a translated version sometime soon. Until then, congrats Andre!
Uma na Bravo Outra na Ditadura: Cheap
A film by André Valentim Almeida with John Fine, Jorge Loura, Portugal and Beatriz
Starring Fernando Alvim, Gonçalo M Tavares, Pedro Filipe aka DJ Filipão, Fonseca Inês Santos Inês Nadais, Jacinto Lucas Pires, Joana Vasconcelos, John Boniface Jorge Guerra e Paz, JP Coutinho, JP Simões, Nuno Cardinho, Pedro Mexia, Pedro Ribeiro, Raquel Bulha, Raquel Vieira da Silva, Valter Hugo Mother, Vanessa Granja.
Supported University of Porto, UP media.
that’s great!
Yes, please, translation or subtitles. The Portugal experience is interesting for people of other countries that had suffered authoritarian governments and Almeida’s documentary is a very important source of knowledge.