Fado and Cinema

10 June, 2012 to 26 August, 2012

If the advent of sound cinema was marked by musical movies, Portuguese cinema paid particular attention to fado. This is well illustrated by the fact that the first Portuguese phonofilm, “A Severa” (Leitão de Barros, 1931), has as its central theme the story of a mythical figure from the foundation of the urban song.

As a central theme or simple note, Fado punctuated Portuguese cinematographic production from silent cinema to contemporary production. Notwithstanding the role of Amália Rodrigues, the incursions into the cinema of artists such as Ercília Costa, Fernando Farinha, Hermínia Silva, Carlos Ramos, Deolinda Rodrigues, Raul Nery, Jaime Santos, among many others, should also be highlighted.

In addition to the Portuguese filmmakers, several foreign filmmakers discovered the rich melodic and narrative of Fado to build their stories. From O Fado by Maurice Mauriad, in 1923, or Les Amants du Tage, by Henri Verneuil, in 1954 to Fados by Carlos Saura, fado has captivated the attention of several international filmmakers.

On the set of films produced in Portugal we highlight some predominant thematic lines: an association with the bullfighting universe, like the films A Severa, Gado Bravo, Homem do Ribatejo, Sol e Toiros, Ribatejo, Sangue Toureiro or A Ultima Pega; a construction around the star / diva and behind the scenes of films such as A Menina da Rádio, Fado, History of a Cantadeira or Costa do Castelo, or as issues of morality related to conflicts between a fadista or artistic experience and current family life in Sol e Toiros, Cantiga da Rua and Sangue Toureiro.

On display, in addition to a very rich universe of letters, scores, periodicals, photos of records, garments worn by Amália Rodrigues or Mariza, cameras and equipment associated with film production and different types of Cinema projection.

This exhibition featured excerpts from films from the 1920s, 1930s, the heyday of the 1940s, as well as contemporary works such as Com Que Voz, by Nicholas Oulman or Fados by Carlos Saura.

Still, a novelty: a premiere - in partial format - of the documentary Fado by Aurélio Vasques and Sofia Portugal, a coproduction of the Fado Museum with Zulfilmes, which presents a spoken testimony about fado, in the voice of some of its protagonists: Carlos do Carmo , Mariza, Camané, Beatriz da Conceição, Carminho, José Manuel Neto, Joel Pina, José Pracana, Rui Vieira Nery and Maria do Rosário Pedreira.

This coproduction of the Fado Museum and the Portuguese Cinematheque - located at Páteo da Galé - is set on the framework for the consecration of Fado as a Cultural Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO) and was supported by the National Theater Museum, National Library, by RTP - through its Museum collection, TOBIS Archives, Dr. Santos Rocha Museum of Figueira da Foz, among other entities.