Fados

Portugal, 2007, 88 Minute Running Time
Additional Countries: Spain
Genre/Subjects: Documentary, Foreign, Music
Language: Portuguese English Sub-Titles

MUST END Thursday, May 14
Digital presentation - Fados completes the musical trilogy of award-winning filmmaker Carlos Saura (Flamenco, Tango). Using Lisbon as a backdrop, he explores Portugal's most emblematic musical genre (fado) and its haunting spirit of saudade (melancholy). Tracing its African and Brazilian origins up to the new wave of modern faudistas, he ingeniously deploys mirrors, back projections, lighting effects, and lush colors to frame each song, ranging from a campfire ringed by sinuous dancers to a balletic catfight between two jealous women to a thrilling desgarrada (musical duel) in a fado café. The result is a ravishing fusion of cinema, song, dance and instrumental numbers. Fados contains homages to such legends as Maria Severa and Amália Rodrigues, as well as stunning turns by modern stars like Mariza, Camané and Caetano Veloso; but Saura also expands the songs (which traditionally involve just a singer and a guitarist) with dance and encompasses other nationalities and idioms (such as hip hop, flamenco and reggae).

DIRECTOR: Carlos Saura
Principal Cast: Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Camané, Carlos do Carmo, Lila Downs, Cesária Évora, Toni Garrido, Lura, Mariza, Miguel Poveda, Argentina Santos, Ana Sofia Varela, Caetano Veloso
US Distributor: Zeitgeist Films

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