18:00
Spell Reel, Filipa César, Germany-Portugal-France-Guinea Bissau, 2017, 96’
In 2001, a film and sound archive with interesting material was unearthed in Bissay. Almost completely destroyed, that film material bore testimony to the birth of Guinean cinema as part of the vision for decolonization espoused by Amilcar Cabral, freedom-fighting leader killed in 1973. In collaboration with Guinean filmmakers Sana na N’Hada and Flora Gomes, along with many other allies, artist and filmmaker Filipa César imagines a journey in which the fragile material from the past serves as a visionary prism for through we can cast our gaze.
Digitized in Berlin, screened and discussed live, this material provides much room for debate, for stories and for looking to the future. From isolated towns and villages in Guinea-Bissau to European capitals, the reels of silent film are now a meeting point for reflection on a world in crisis.
Xime, Sana Na N’Hada. Guinea Bissau-Netherlands, 1994, 95’
1962. A good year for the rice harvest and the town of Xime, in Guinea-Bissau, seems to be living a time of bonanza and optimism. But Lala, a widowed peasant of the town, faces the possibility of losing authority over his two sons: Raul, his elder son, has abandoned the priesthood to join the freedom-fighting movement against the Portuguese colonial regime. And Bedan, his younger son, is against the notion of the authority of village elders. Furthermore, the colonial authorities are on their guard, so events unfold quickly, towards violence. When the soldiers burst into the village, there is only one possible option: “This time, war”. .
Guinea-Bissauko herri isolatuetatik hiriburu europarretaraino, krisian dagoen mundu bati buruz hausnartzeko balio duten topagune dira orain pelikula mutuen bilkariak.