Almada | Clandestina – Almada online

A dive into the past that follows the life of a young artist invited to go underground in Portugal, in the second half of the 20th century. Margarida Tengarrinha, played an important role in the anti-fascist resistance, becoming a forger of documents for opponents persecuted by the dictatorship, for political activism.

This is a film that honors the collective memory of those who fought for freedom, many of them anonymously, but no less decisive in the overthrow of the regime. This female narrative gains heroic traits as the character overcomes the countless difficulties of the spartan, duplicitous and unstable life of hiding, as well as facing several tragic events.

In the film, the dilemma appears as a constant lever for a new situation. In addition to portraying the protagonist as an emancipated woman in a context that is politically oppressive to gender equality, it does not omit the internal conflicts arising from family separation, isolation, separation from her daughter, the specter of prison, the death of her partner.

“Clandestina”, by Maria Mire, has as its starting point the book “Memórias de Uma Falsificadora – A Luta na Clandestinidade pela Liberdade em Portugal”, by the artist, writer, teacher, illustrator and former deputy Margarida Tengarrinha (1928-2023 ). Tengarrinha was a member of the University board of MUD Juvenil, joined the PCP at the age of 24, in 1952, and went underground at the end of 1954. Member of the Central Committee of the PCP from May 1974 until 1988, after the 25th of April 1974 he was also member of the board of the Lisbon Regional Organization. She passed away in October 2023, aged 95.

Through temporal anachronism, “Clandestina” is like a missive to a time to come, a premonition of the tragic possibility of History repeating itself. The action is transposed to our days and, despite the voice Off refer to woodcuts, photography materials or white stamps, we see the actors using computers, hard drives or electronic passports. This anachronism has the specific function of transporting the political dimension of clandestinity to our days, so that we can think about the current practices of political dissent, the operability of the concept of fascism itself and the new forms of clandestinity, which unfold in a closer time. of contemporary times and intersect with a dreamlike space, in a geometry capable of mixing physical coordinates with the emotional and traumatic dimension of the narrated experience.

The book “Memories of a forger – A Luta na Clandestinidade pela Liberdade em Portugal” by Margarida Tengarrinha constitutes a document that allows you to submerge yourself in the clandestine network of the Party
Portuguese Communist, and thus better understand this important structure of resistance to the fascist regime of the Estado Novo in Portugal, based on the narrated experience of a young artist who dives into this network in a determined and passionate way.

“The interest in making this film is linked both to the urgency of bringing the action of women, who in a revolutionary way fought in this dark period of contemporary Portuguese history, out of the shadows, and to thinking about the political dimension present in the small gestures of everyday life ”, declared the director, at the presentation of the documentary, at DocLisboa.

“I was very interested in these processes of invisibility, which in this particular context suggest having a double layer, the first due to the invisibility of female narratives linked to the political struggle and the second due to the very nature of the experience of clandestinity, which implied operating from the shadow”, he added on the same occasion.

This is the first feature film by Maria Mire, who in 2020 made the short “Parto Sem Dor”, a tribute to the obstetrician Cesina Bermudes (1908-2001), pioneer of the introduction of painless childbirth in Portugal and anti-fascist resistance. , who helped many women in hiding give birth. She was also the producer of “Alcindo”, a film by anthropologist Miguel Dores about racism in Portugal, based on the story of the murder of Alcindo Monteiro, a Portuguese of Cape Verdean origin, victim of racial hatred in 1995. Maria Mire was born in Maputo in 1979 . She has a PhD in Art and Design from FBAUP in 2016, professor and co-head of the Department of Cinema and Moving Image at Ar.Co., in Lisbon.

The documentary was part of the Portuguese Competition section in the latest edition of DocLisboa, where it was shown for the first time. “Clandestina” won the “A Voz das Mulheres” and “Best Portuguese Film” awards at the “Porto Femme – International Film Festival”. The “A Voz das Mulheres” award, for “voices that refuse silence”, recognizes the best Portuguese film that addresses the importance “of the word in denouncing the situation of discrimination, in the various dimensions of life.” The international film festival “Porto Femme”, which defines itself as showcasing “the best cinema produced by women and non-binary people”, dedicated its 2024 edition to women and the revolution, because for some of them “the 25th of April took to arrive”. The festival’s official competition this year featured 122 films from 38 countries.

Datasheet:

Original title: Clandestina
Directed by: Maria Mire
Argument: based on the book “Memórias de Uma Falsificadora – A Luta na Condestinidade pela Liberdade em Portugal”, by Margarida Tengarrinha
Production: Luisa Homem, João Matos, Leonor Noivo, Pedro Pinho, Susana Nobre and Tiago Hespanha
Cast: Kim Ostrowskij, Rafael Costa, Salomé Saltão, Joana Levi, Ciço Silveira
Music: Ricardo Guerreiro
Photography: Miguel Tavares
Editing: Luisa Homem
Genre: Documentary
Origin: Portugal
Year: 2023
Duration: 82 min.
Classification: –

Price: €3.00 (50% discount for young people and seniors)

“Clandestina”, Almada, Fernando Lopes-Graça Auditorium, Cinema, clandestinity, Culture, documentary, Margarida Tengarrinha, Marie Mire, resistance