EM FOCO

A JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY

The Santarém International Film Festival (FICS) marks the 50th anniversary of the Agrarian Reform with a special selection of films that revisit this pivotal moment in Portugal's history. From May 21st to 26th, the EM FOCO section invites audiences on a cinematic journey through this rural revolution's struggle, transformation, and social impact, bringing stories of resistance and reflections on its legacy to the forefront.

The program is divided into three sections, exploring different perspectives on this defining period. From militant and didactic cinema to political and cultural intervention, the selected films examine the impact of the Agrarian Reform in various dimensions: political, land-related, labor, social, cultural, and identity, revealing the multiple layers of this historical transformation.

These films will serve as a starting point for reflection, foster debate, and offer new interpretations of this essential chapter in our history.

SESSION 1 | CONTEXT, HISTORY AND REFLECTIONS ON LAND REFORM

In the first session, we begin with a terrifying satire, the result of the creativity of the Cinema Cell of the Portuguese Communist Party, As Desventuras de Drácula Von Barreto nas Terras da Reforma Agrária (1977), where a Lusitanian Nosferatu sharpens his fangs to sink them into the neck of an Alentejan peasant woman. In Terra de Pão, Terra de Luta (José Nascimento, 1977), produced by the Matos Silva brothers' Cinequipa, considered "one of the great classics of the most militant cinema of the revolution" (Cinemateca), we move to a more sober tone without abandoning emotion, going through moments of tenderness, demands, solidarity, and indignation. We see the wrinkled faces of rural workers and the dance of gestures punctuating their words. We hear “De que serve o manajeiro / se quem trabalha é a gente? / Não precisamos de donos,” sung by Shila (Sheila Charlesworth) and Vitorino in “São Saias, Senhor, São Saias.” We record the maxim "Better to die standing than to live on your knees." The slogan “The land belongs to those who work it!” echoes.

SESSION 2 | THE DREAM AND THE ANGER / THE WORKERS / INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT
In De Sol a Sol (Cinequipa, 1975), an episode of the series Nome Mulher, the focus is on women, their condition as exploited workers, like men, but subjected to a double shift, unpaid domestic labour, the wear and tear of age, as mothers, wives, and daughters, subject to patriarchal, sexist, and misogynistic violence, and excluded from political agency. Despite the bleak scenario, there seems to be a glimpse of change. When asked directly ("Do you think that, soon, women should earn the same as men?"), a farmworker with responsibilities replies: "We even defend that; equal work, equal pay." Is it a mere repetition of a cliché or an internalised conviction?
Liberdade para José Diogo (Luís Galvão Teles, 1975) shows the outcome of an acute conflict between a large landowner in Castro Verde and a tractor driver, José Diogo, who, in a moment of humiliation and violence from the landowner, defends himself with a knife, causing the death of his employer. The trial follows, in Tomar, far from Beja, with support initiatives, including concerts and a play, and the outcome. On the walls and banners, it reads: "Catarina [Eufémia] / Zé Diogo / The same struggle."

SESSION 3 | THE CONSTRUCTION OF A POLITICAL IDENTITY / POLITICISATION / THE COLLECTIVISATION OF LABOUR
Assim Começa Uma Cooperativa (Grupo Zero, 1976). In this short film, shot in the Coimbra district, in Barcouço, an unifying element appears: the brass band, which guides the narrative through the intervention of its members, with a focus on the clarinettist, who presents his political principles for work organisation in the cooperative: harmony and unity.
Comunal, Uma Experiência Revolucionária (Cinequanon, 1975) This experience of communal living exposes another side of social organisation: a group of urbanites who gather in a cooperative in Árgea, Torres Novas: "different witnesses expressing themselves about the cooperative they participate in; the sacrifices, the advantages, and the hesitations are touched upon in a description of the significance the cooperative had for the people," according to Mickaël Robert-Gonçalves, in a 2013 text.
A Luta do Povo: Alfabetização em Santa Catarina (Grupo Zero, 1976) In 1970, 25% of the Portuguese population was illiterate. Through the testimony of Alfredo Martins, a farm labourer who goes to school at the age of 44 and had never heard of "fascism" or "communism," we understand the needs and aspirations of the forgotten and exploited, the lower classes, the people, this elusive and slippery sociological category. Alfredo learns the words "people" and "struggle," combining them to form slogan-phrases: "the people fight." The teacher proudly notes that now her student "can read the words written on the walls." Between direct cinema and cinéma-vérité, this artifice of the real, we take in images of land seizures, land reform, counter-reform, reactions, occupations, the violence of capital, and the security forces in its service.

In addition to the screenings, the public will have the opportunity to participate in discussions with experts, visit exclusive exhibitions, and deepen their understanding of one of the events that reshaped Portugal.