On the 16th of November, we began the main International Competitions of our 16th edition. Until the 29th of November, Casa do Comum and Teatro do Bairro will host unmissable documentary and videodance screenings.
After two first weeks marked by special videodance sessions at Shortcutz Lisboa (Cossoul) and Casa do Comum, the exhibition of shows of the dance companies Baal (Space Travellers) and CiM (Uma Outra Forma), the International Animation Competition, and the unforgettable performances of SOPRO, a CiM creation, and The Heroine's Journey, by Anouk Froidevaux, we are now embarking on the epicentre of our programme: the International Documentary and Videodance Competitions.
Taking place between the 16th and 24th of November, the International Documentary Competition brings together a total of 18 films from 10 countries and illustrates the current panorama of dance-related documentaries. Presented for the first time at the newly founded Casa do Comum, it has six sessions, during which films made by national artists, such as Pedro Saudadhe and Eva Ângelo, and international artists, such as André Uerba, Kitty Yeung, Veronika Pokoptceva and Jeanne Maye, will be shown. It began last Saturday, 16th November, with the screening of Nôs Dança, a film by Rui Lopes Silva, who was present at the session and led a rich conversation with the audience.
Documentary is followed by Videodance: from the 26th to the 29th of November, the International Videodance Competition returns to the Teatro do Bairro with a total of 71 unmissable films. Coming from 32 countries and screened over seven sessions, these creations highlight what Pedro Sena Nunes, the Festival's Co-Artistic Director, refers to as the "constant courtship between the body and the image", and, in his words, they excel in "their technical, aesthetic and narrative quality".
"Over the years, we've seen an exponential growth in the quality of the proposals. In terms of themes, there's a constant touch of relevance: at the speed at which the world is spinning, every year there are issues that are absolutely blatant and challenging for those who create, and we always see political, social or more poetic issues being tackled. From a creative point of view, there has been a great deal of innovation in the approach to themes. From a narrative point of view, the conciseness with which the messages are worked out stands out", emphasises the Co-Artistic Director.
The competitions will be completed with an Awards Ceremony on the 30th of November at Teatro do Bairro. With the aim of honouring the highlights of the edition, several groups of judges will evaluate the scenic proposals in competition according to specific categories. These include: The Official Jury, made up of guest artists Marlene Millar and Sam Asaert, and teacher and researcher Cecília Lima; and the Documentary Jury, made up of Américo Peças, a teacher and pedagogue, Margarida Mourão, a singer and clinical psychologist, and Melissa Silvestre, a student at the Escola Artística António Arroio.
Participation in the activities organised at the Teatro do Bairro is subject to the prior purchase of tickets, which can be done via the following link.
Alongside the International Competitions, InShadow includes a series of photographic exhibitions and art installations that will be held at Espaço Santa Catarina (from the 22nd of November to the 9th of December), Espaço Cultural Mercês (from the 26th of November to the 9th of December) and at the Gallery and Cistern of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon (FBAUL) (from the 3rd to the 19th of December). Espaço Cultural Mercês will also host Kaput!, an interactive multimedia exhibition developed by the artist Joana Franco, and the FBAUL Gallery will host Discernible Beauty, a photographic exhibition by Sam Asaert.
"This edition is a highlight in itself. All the proposals are absolutely extraordinary and somehow end up in dialogue with each other. The ideal audience member would be someone who could see everything and, within this constellation of artistic opportunities and experiences, weave their own narrative. I believe that this is the advantage of art: to make people think about what surrounds them," concludes Pedro Sena Nunes.
InShadow, body imagines in the shadow.