Contramaré, which began as a film club in 1994, at a time when Portimão had no regular movie theater, soon became a broader cultural association. A few days ago, between the 26th and 28th of December, Contramaré prepared a special program to commemorate 20 years of existence, in the old part of the city.
One of the highlights of these celebrations was the musician Alexandre Bernardo, who accompanied on guitar the films of the famous artist from Porto and his grandfather Júlio Bernardo – one of the pioneers of cinema and photography icon in the Algarve.
But there was much more, in Portimão and Ferragudo, including theater, concerts, DJ performances and the comedian from Portimão “Môce dum Cabréste”, an illustration and creative writing workshop for children, a boat trip in the Arade, guided tours of the city and, of course, cinema. All to show that, after leaving adolescence, Contramaré is alive and recommended!
Emídio Freire, founder of Contramaré and who now walks between Portimão and Barcelona, recalled, in an interview, that the idea of creating a film club came about “due to the passion of a group of people for the seventh art”.
In 1994, «Portimão did not have any cinema in operation, although there was still the nostalgic building of the old cinema in the city, which, the following year, would celebrate its centenary. So everything seemed to fall into place. Contramaré, which began as a film club, took its first steps in film programming. In 1995, it organized the commemoration of the centenary of cinema, occupying several spaces in the city and having as its central pole an exhibition in the also destroyed old market of Alameda. broader activity'.
With this transformation, the activity of Contramaré also evolved. And so, in addition to the cineclube's programming, Contramaré «also created a music section called “off-cine”, which programmed several concerts, exhibitions and workshops for several years», recalls its founder.
More recently, however, “due to the lack of an appropriate location, Contramaré bet on holding music, film and video workshops. The Short Film Competition was also one of the last activities with a regional impact, with one of the winning films in this competition having been selected for the Vila do Conde Short Film Festival», emphasizes Emídio Freire.
But it was always a journey fraught with difficulties. “Associations of this type exist thanks to a very unstable balance between the will of a group of people with a common goal and the cultural policy strategy for the municipality. In other words, there has to be, in fact, a group of people willing enough to put things into practice – which does not always happen. There must also be a cultural policy that promotes associativism as an asset for the municipality, supporting it in a structural way. The imbalance between these two factors has caused, over the years of existence of Contramaré, great wear and tear and its near disappearance», he adds.
And there were even moments of great frustration for Contramaré. Emídio Freire recalls that the most frustrating moment “was when we got significant support for the acquisition of cinema projection equipment and established a protocol with Boa Esperança Atlético Clube Portimonense. In this protocol, Contramaré was responsible for the acquisition of all the equipment and Boa Esperança for the necessary changes so that the referred equipment could be installed. The equipment was acquired by Contramaré and the installation of the sound was started. However, the direction of that club has changed. And the project of having, in the center of the city, a space for the projection of quality cinema is over.
We were never able to get the equipment back. This could have been, without a doubt, the great turning point for our activity. Did not happen".
And now? Emídio Freire is confident: «although the history of Contramaré is not visible in our city today, its activity managed to infect many young people, today adults, who can give it another chance. If it made sense to create, in 1994, a cultural association, today, in 2014 it makes even more sense». “If the tide takes you where you don't want to go, you have to paddle Contramaré”, he says, recalling the association's motto.
Marta Gonçalves: Contramaré has "many projects in progress, some of which are based on synergies between local and national artists or associations"
For Marta Gonçalves, the current president of Contramaré, “the future will go through finding a physical place to work, since, in these twenty years, we have always been dependent on either municipal equipment or commercial places to develop activities”.
The leader assures that the association has "many projects in progress, some of which are based on synergies between local and national artists or associations".
“We are concerned with somehow recovering our identity. Above all, the future calls us united to fill the gaps felt in our territory, at the cultural, artistic, social, tourist and economic levels», concludes Marta Gonçalves.
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