O documentary “War Horses”, about the dangers threatening the Ria Formosa seahorse community, will be shown by SIC Internacional on Saturday 15th, at 23:15, and will reach Portuguese (and beyond) all over the world.
The opportunity arose after a contact made by João Rodrigues, director of the documentary filmed and produced in the Algarve, with the television station, after the pandemic had ruined the initial plan of the team that made the film, to go on a national tour.
Those responsible for SIC programming "were immediately interested, but they had everything closed", according to what João Rodrigues told the Sul Informação.
Even so, the opportunity for the documentary to be part of SIC Internacional's grid arose. «It was great that they found this little hole», said the founder of Chimera Visuals, who produced the film for the Municipality of Olhão.
“This is scheduled for the 15th at 23:15 national time. This channel is aimed at the Portuguese community abroad. So it won't be prime time inside, but outside, for example in the United States, it's a great time for people to watch», explained the director and screenwriter of this documentary.
This is an international channel «that gives priority to those who live abroad. Here, not all Portuguese people have this channel, but there are already many people who do».
The “good part” for those who want to see the film, but do not have access to SIC Internacional, “is that it will probably be available on SIC's online platforms, both in the application and on the website. There are no guaranteed dates or details yet, but that is the objective».
“That way, it will be available to the majority of the public”, he illustrated.
Taking as far as possible the message of this film - that the seahorses of Ria Formosa are critically threatened by human action, and that they can disappear if nothing is done - is, moreover, the main objective of the team that made it. the documentary.
“The most important thing here is the conservation message. Because this isn't a normal movie, is it? It is a weapon of marine conservation, awareness and environmental education, and we are interested in reaching as many people as possible», said João Rodrigues to Sul Informação.
Before the pandemic, a national tour of “War Horses” was already lined up, “which would take place in schools, universities, municipal movie theaters, with the entire team and with the seahorse researcher, to give their seem".
Covid-19 threw this plan to the ground, but the film's authors did not cross their arms and went to SIC.
“As the concert halls and the university auditoriums themselves had to close because of the pandemic, this seemed to us the best solution and the most effective tool”, said the director.
The television transmission of the documentary ends up "compensating for the fact that we had to cancel our national tour".
which is also in Stand by is the result of applications made by Chimera Visuals, the film's producer, to various festivals.
“We are enrolled in many festivals, but we are still waiting for the results. The festivals linked to the preservation of the environment in which we are registered are also undergoing adaptations and restructuring due to Covid-19 and are behind schedule», he explained.
However, this is a problem that does not concern João Rodrigues.
«With festivals, we only eventually lost the visibility that distinctions would give us. It's this thing about the rooms being closed that seriously interfered with our communication plan for the film. That was the big failure!», he believes.
As soon as there is an opportunity, João Rodrigues and the “Horses of War” team want to hit the road to take the film all over the country.
However, they prefer not to do it now, despite the fact that the concert halls have already reopened, albeit with restrictions.
“We can eventually think of an outdoor format, with a screen and a projector, to make this type of exhibition, which would entail much less risk of transmitting the virus,” he added.
“But that is not in our hands. We are waiting for more concrete guidelines from the Health Authority and also for this to pass a while. We may be on the verge of a second wave, so it's not worth it to be making big plans», concluded João Rodrigues.
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