«Valuing the work of film clubs that, now more than ever, need to be supported» was the main objective of the working visit that Nuno Artur Silva, Secretary of State for Cinema, Audiovisual and Media made to Faro, last Thursday.
The pretext was to watch, in Faro, on the IPDJ esplanade and with the health safety rules complied with, the national premiere of the short film program “Três Portuguese Filmmakers”, brought to the Algarve by the hand of the Cineclube de Faro.
But the Secretary of State also took advantage of the trip to meet with the two Algarve film clubs – the one from Faro and that of Tavira -, as well as with the regional directorate of Culture. From the Cineclube de Tavira, the two directors of FICLO were present, the Olhão International Film and Literature Festival, which begins on the 15th.
Through an intense program, the Sul Informação interviewed Nuno Artur Silva, who began by explaining that he wanted above all to “symbolically signal, with my presence, the importance of film clubs and their activity”.
This is because, said the government official, «this importance is, at this moment, even greater because, with the crisis we are experiencing, which installed the fear of social activities, film programming, as it was originally thought, is an activity in which a group of people who, many times, do not know each other, are sitting in the same place watching, feeling emotional, being inspired by the films. Cinema is a social activity. Especially in the case of film clubs, it is a social activity accompanied by conversations, usually passionate, about films and the construction of a world of sharing what these people love, which is cinema and the world of cinema».
And will there be new support for the Film Clubs? Sul Informação. Nuno Artur Silva replied that, «on the side of the Ministry of Culture, in particular that of the Secretary of State for Cinema, Audiovisual and Media, what we are doing is to better understand who is on the ground».
«Instead of being at Palácio da Ajuda, designing how the exhibition circuit in Portugal should be, it is important to come to the field to see who is here, the film clubs that exist, the film theaters and festivals that exist», he explained.
«First of all, what we are doing, and we are already in the finalization phase, is a map of who is in the independent exhibition, the independent cinemas, the film clubs, what is their activity, how do they connect with the festivals , how they survive, how they are integrated in a network. We are finishing a map of the country, continent and islands, about it», he added, in his interview to our newspaper.
Major financial support, apparently, there will not be. “In this difficult context, we tried to create, through the instruments that exist in the Ministry of Culture, ways to support – it is true that financially it is always very difficult, because we do not have a very large budget – to support these initiatives as much as we can, namely by articulating them. those with other initiatives, such as the National Cinema Plan or other type of support within the lines that the ICA has», he revealed.
As the Algarve is a region that was managing to capture more and more footage and recordings, with even a small audiovisual industry asserting itself in the region, what will be done in this regard?
Nuno Artur Silva acknowledged that «the Algarve is in fact a region with enormous potential» for this new economic sector that, before the pandemic, was growing, already involving dozens of professionals in the region.
"Just as there are contingency plans for returns to movie theaters, for spectators and moviegoers to see movies, there are also for the professionals who do it and for the shooting teams," replied the Secretary of State.
«There are plans being articulated by the Portugal Film Commission, and by the various regional and local Film Commissions, on how to continue filming and how to continue recording in necessarily different circumstances. There is a lot, on the part of everyone, this desire to not stop, but reconciling this with health standards», he said.
"There is a huge challenge here, but without a doubt that the common objective is to have and create conditions to continue filming and attracting for filming – which is also an economic sector – various productions, national and foreign".
In terms of the balance of the meeting with the Secretary of State, Carlos Rafael Lopes, president of the Cineclube de Faro, revealed to our newspaper that Nuno Artur Silva «brought availability and a set of good intentions», which he hopes will come true.
One of the measures being prepared by the government official and welcomed by Carlos Rafael is the National Film Plan, which, in addition to providing for «the definition of structural policies for the sector», is «not just throwing money up. of the problems', foresees, for example, 'the creation of a joint platform with the Cinematheque, film clubs and other structures, which will be responsible for the acquisition of film rights', thus enabling 'the different structures to be used for the acquisition of these rights. , individually, is unaffordable». This is a problem that particularly affects film clubs, which are always struggling with very tight budgets.
After the meeting with the two film clubs from Faro and Tavira, which also had the presence of the regional director of Culture, and the interview with Sul Informação, Nuno Artur Silva sat in the front row of chairs on the IPDJ esplanade, outdoors, to watch the three short films, all made by women.
With him, there were about eight dozen people, members and non-members of the Cineclube, who confessed that they already missed these sessions and completely filled the space, making it necessary to fetch more chairs.
The program included the short films “Dia de Festa”, by Sofia Bost, “Ruby”, by Mariana Gaivão, and “Cães que Ladram aos Pássaros”, by Leonor Teles. The directors, all Portuguese, could not be present, but they sent messages about their films and about the current situation of cinema in Portugal, which were listened to carefully by the Secretary of State for Cinema, Audiovisual and Media.
As scheduled, after the film session, the Secretary of State also met with Graça Lobo (creator of the National Film Plan, in 2012) and with Isa Catarina Mateus, as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Film Clubs (delegated for cinema and education in the world), the latter having underlined its “availability to work with all entities in the development of public policies”.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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