Varadouro

Paulo Abreu, João da Ponte
Portugal 2013 / 10’
The Movement of Things What Is Not Seen

A short film commissioned by Doc's Kingdom, an annual film seminar inspired by the American Flaherty Film Seminar. Abreu uses his characteristic mockumentary style, telling the story of natural pools located on the coast of the island of Faial in the Azores archipelago, where lava solidified upon contact with the sea. Painterly, static frames give way to a humorous tale of a summer resort that hosted guests such as Jacques Brel, Peter Ustinov, and Mark Twain.

Agnieszka Szeffel

Paulo Abreu

Born in Lisbon in 1964. He completed the course of Video at IADE in 1987 and began to work as a freelancer in 1988, making videos for dance, drama and music shows. He was a scholarship student from Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/FLAD in Film/Vídeo Arts, New York in 1991. In 1992 he represented Portugal in the area of video on Bienal de Jovens Criadores do Mediterrâneo in Valencia. He was a cameraman on “Ver Artes”, RTP2 show about visual arts and architecture, between 1994 and 1996. He collaborated with several visual artists and participated in many collective exhibitions. He is a founding-member of the Daltonic Brothers, duo of authors of satiric comic books, animated films and experimental films. He signed the Photography Direction and/or the camera work in several fiction films, documentaries and video clips (from directors such as Paulo Rocha, Rodrigo Areias, André Gil Mata, Jorge Quintela). He directed over 20 experimental films, mostly in the Super8 format, that were selected, displayed and distinguished in numerous shows and national and international festivals of this nature (DocLisboa, IndieLisboa, MotelX, Curtas Vila do Conde, Edinburgh FF, Roterdam IFF, New York Indie DocFest, International Cinema Show of São Paulo, among others). 

Selected filmography

1991 Esta Noite não Estou para Ninguém (short)

2000 Xonor (short)

2010 For Plus- X (short)

2011 Broda / Barba / Beard (short)

2012 O Facínora (short)

2012 We śnie / Adormecido / Asleep (short)

2013 Varadouro (short)

2015 Raimundo (short)

2015 Phil Mendrix

2016 NYC 1991 (short)

2017 I don't belong here (doc.)

2018 Alis Ubbo (doc.)

2020 Czego nie widać / O Que Não Se Vê / What Is Not Seen (short)

2023 Ubu

Credits

director Paulo Abreu, João da Ponte
screenplay Paulo Abreu
cinematography Paulo Abreu
editing Paulo Abreu
music Carlos Medeiros
sound Sérgio Gregorium
cast Paulo Abreu, João da Ponte, João Pedro Gomes, Norberto Serpa
producer João da Ponte
production Agecta
sales Paulo Abreu
language Portuguese