48, Susana de Sousa Dias

93’ minutes, Betacam Digital, Portugal, 2009

screening and discussion with the director

Friday 28 January, 6:30pm

University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street

opening night screening of:

¡Documentary Now!

A Conference on the Contemporary Contexts and Possibilities of the Documentary

From Kintop’s web site:

After her film Natureza Morta-Visages d’une Dictature (Still Life), Susana de Sousa dedicates herself again to the time of the Portuguese dictatorship. By means of an innovative cinematographic approach she succeeds in creating a film of universal impact.

Starting from a group of photographs of political prisoners and their voices (but also the sound of the presence of their bodies), the filmmaker draws a portrait of the 48 years of dictatorship. The film uncovers details hidden so far and breaks with taboos that are still existing until today.

At a time when the topic of torture is confronting us almost every day, 48 reminds us of the practice of the Portuguese dictatorship and of the aftereffects, which still can be felt today. (KINTOP)

«48… is a masterpiece (…) a documentary film with a rigorous and disturbing approach. The result is, indeed, hypnotic – and unforgettable.», Amir Labaki, Valor

“Faces. And voices. Nothing else. Minimalistic. (…) A selection of photos speak to us about 48 years of fascism – about the society, the faces, the clothes, the way people lived. Nobody is identified by age or name, each individual stands for all political prisoners of the dictatorship. “Each of these photos hides a story. What interested me was finding out what does a photo reveal and what does it conceal. “The inviting smile on the face of a woman, addressed to the PIDE agents, what can it mean?” (…) And the face of the blond man? (…) And that woman, starring at us, almost like a painting before disappearing shortly thereafter in the black background, even though her eyes still seem to stay there? (…) “The film tries to expand the duration of that fraction of a second, in which the picture was taken, and in which the prisoners opposed their oppressors, face to face “, tells us the director. The expression of their faces, this look of challenge is the last space of freedom, that remained them in this moment.” (Portuguese daily newspaper Público)

For a trailer go to Cinéma Du Réel