EDGAR PÊRA: RETROSPECTIVE - 23 NOV

Muddy River | 80 min.Close to a dreamlike neorealism film, Muddy River, based on the homonymous tale by Branquinho da Fonseca, recounts an impossible love story between an anonymous topographer, who has recently arrived in a marshland where an airport is planned - the fictional anachronism, underlining the historical timing, is probably the much-discussed Ota airport, near Lisbon - and the beautiful marsh flower. The musical interventions by the construction workers (the fado music of Ricardo Ribeiro and Manuel João Vieira, the guitars of Dead Combo and José Pracana, the bossa nova of JP Simões and the voice of Teresa Salgueiro) socratically punctuate this love story and accompany parallel narratives of conspiracy and suspicion. The background are the fears and a widespread indifference towards the present, in which the protagonist must decide whether he is a man or a monkey, a cynic or a coward, advancing, through progressive detachment from reality, towards an abrupt, ironic and bitter end.
MUDDY RIVER, 2007
Director: Edgar Pêra  Scriptwriter: Edgar Pêra (inspired by the short story"Rio Turvo” by Branquinho da Fonseca) Director of Photography: Luís Branquinho  Editing: Tiago Antunes Set design: Miguel FigueiredoMusic: Dead Combo, Vítor Rua, Miguel Ramos, José Pracana, João Machado, JP Simões, Ricardo Ribeiro  Cast: Nuno Melo (the topographer), Teresa Salgueiro (Leonor, the swamp flower), José Wallenstein (the director), Manuel João Vieira (Chico Melena), Vítor Correia (João Caracol), Sérgio Grilo (Sargento Bera), José Ananias (tax officer), António Évora, J. P. Simões, Pedro Hestnes (Velês), David Almeida (Nuno Sebastião Pereira de Almeida), Paula Só (Aunt Lurdes)Production management: Beatriz Jamerla Producer: João Pinto Sousa, Production: Cine-Tuga Format: video, colour, 80 min.