For Earth Month (April), the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures is offering a film series loosely based on farming and food production. All films are free and open to the public.

For more information, Prof. Colleen Culleton at culleton@buffalo.edu

The third film in this month-long series will be Trás-os-Montes (Dir. António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro, 1976). Portuguese with English subtitles.

The first feature in António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro’s trilogy is a journey through this almost mythical region of north-east Portugal, a tapestry of micronarratives where past, present and future become intertwined.

Developed with a limited budget during the filmmakers’ holidays and free time, Trás-os-Montes was initially intended to portray different aspects of this culturally and geographically unique region – from flora to local crafts and architecture. However, the film turned into something entirely original, complicating straightforward definitions of documentary and ethnography. Rather than attempting to crystallise the region’s objects and practices, the directors reinvent its sounds and images, inaugurating a new chapter in Portuguese docufiction.

(film synopsis from Institute of Contemporary Art, London)

This film series is sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Humanities Institute, Department of Media Study.