Director Patrick Wang is the guest of this edition, and will be in Lisbon to present two of his films – The Grief of Others and A Bread Factory -, and give a masterclass at the Faculty of Fine Arts on May 3rd.
The Outsiders programming, an initiative of FLAD – Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, seeks to answer the question “what is the American family today?”, through a set of films that outline the portrait of contemporary America, the its fascination and contradictions, through a look at the family in its multiple declensions. For Carlos Nogueira, programmer of the cycle, “these films remain faithful to the spirit that we sought to convey to our Outsiders from the beginning: respect for diversity, search for representation and attention to the playful aspect”.
Outsiders 2024 kicks off on April 30th with the film The Unknown Country, by director Morrisa Maltz, starring Lily Gladstone, the first Native American actress nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress (for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon , by Martin Scorcese). The film, which had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Festival, follows a young woman grieving for a close family member, who embarks on a trip after receiving an unexpected invitation.
During the May 1st holiday, three films are shown: Land Ho!, a dramatic comedy directed by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz, about two retired ex-brothers-in-law, who decide to take a trip to Iceland to rekindle their friendship and enjoy life , a reflection on aging, friendship and the search for happiness; South Mountain, by Hilary Brougher, whose plot addresses the complexities of family relationships, the challenges of motherhood and changes in marital dynamics; The evening session screens Pier Kids, a 2019 documentary directed by Elegance Bratton about the lives of homeless LGBTQI+ young people who gather at an iconic meeting place in New York City, which offers an intimate look at the struggles and triumphs of these individuals, addressing themes such as identity, family and belonging.
Directed by Ricky D’Ambrose, the film The Cathedral (2017), which follows the ups and downs of a family’s story through the narrator’s eyes, exploring themes such as memory, identity and nostalgia, is shown on May 2nd.
On May 3rd, at 7pm, the work Driveways, directed by Andrew Ahn, will be shown, which addresses themes of loneliness, intergenerational friendship and acceptance, and at 9:15pm Birth/Rebirth, a psychological horror film released commercially in the USA last month August after a stint at Sundance, which marked Laura Moss’s directorial debut. In this film, the director re-examines the myth of Frankenstein through the lenses of motherhood and mortality.
Directed by Jeremy Hersh, The Surrogate, which addresses ethical and emotional issues surrounding surrogacy, is presented on May 4th.
The third edition of the Outsiders cycle ends on Sunday, May 5th, with the exhibition of two works: Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, directed by brothers Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, which takes place on the last day before the permanent closure of a bar in Las Vegas and which adopts an improvisational approach, allowing events and dialogue to unfold organically, creating a sense of authenticity and rawness and mixing elements of documentary and fiction; and at night, to close the cycle, A Thousand and One is shown, the debut feature film by director and screenwriter AV Rockwell, which received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Festival and which was selected for important film festivals such as South by Southwest, Locarno or Berlin. The film takes us to New York in the 90s and follows Inez de La Paz (Teyana Taylor), a young black woman who has just been released from prison and who makes the desperate decision to “kidnap” her six-year-old son from a family of welcoming, an experience identical to the one she experienced.
Director Patrick Wang is the guest of this 3rd edition of Outsiders. Known for the deep narratives in his works, which explore complex and emotional themes and which address social and family issues, Wang comes to Portugal to be the speaker in a masterclass at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, which takes place on the 3rd of May at 5pm and present two films: The Grief of Others (2015), which addresses the dynamics of a family trying to deal with the loss of a newborn child, and A Bread Factory (2018), to be seen on Saturday, the 4th de Maio, a film that is divided into two parts, about the struggle of two owners to ensure the survival of an art community
independent. Remember that in 2021, in the 1st edition of Outsiders, Patrick Wang’s first feature film, In the Family, had already been shown.
Outsiders – American Independent Cinema has its third edition from April 30th to May 5th at Cinema São Jorge and Faculdade de Belas-Artes, in Lisbon and is a co-production between FLAD and Cinema São Jorge.
OUTSIDERS PROGRAM 2024
location: Cinema São Jorge
April 30, Tuesday
9:15 pm: THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY, Morrisa Maltz, 2022, 85′ – opening session
May 1, Wednesday
5:00 pm: LAND HO!, Aaron Katz/Martha Stephens, 2014, 95′
7:00 pm: SOUTH MOUNTAIN, Hilary Brougher, 2019, 82′
9:15 pm: PIER KIDS, Elegance Bratton, 2019, 96′
May 2, Thursday
7:00 pm: THE CATHEDRAL, Ricky D’Ambrose, 2021, 87′
9:30 pm: THE GRIEF OF OTHERS, Patrick Wang, 2015, 103′
May 3, Friday
7:00 pm: DRIVEWAYS, Andrew Ahn, 2019, 83′
9:15 pm: BIRTH/REBIRTH, Laura Moss, 2023, 98′
May 4, Saturday
3:00 pm: A BREAD FACTORY, Patrick Wang, 2018, Part I 122’/ Part II 120′
9:15 pm: THE SURROGATE, Jeremy Hersh, 2020, 93′
May 5, Sunday
5:00 pm: BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, Bill Ross IV/Turner Ross, 2020, 98′
7:00 pm: A THOUSAND AND ONE, AV Rockwell, 2023, 117′ – closing session
Masterclass Patrick Wang
location: Faculty of Fine Arts of the Lisbon University
May 3, Friday
5pm: SEEING ACTORS (masterclass in English)
Tags: Outsiders American Independent Cinema Cycle #3rd edition returns films Portugal Cinema
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