In 1974 the so called ’Carnation Revolution’ brought an end to Salazar’s ’Estado Novo’ (’New State’) dictatorship in Portugal. More than 30 years later Filipa César conducted interviews with four former activists who had been assisting illegal crossings of the Portoguese-Spanish border between 1971 and 1975. With a montage of sound and image recordings Filipa César creates a complex narrative structure that explores the relationship between the four as well as the correlation of subjective and collective memory and the modes of political action. The sound of flowing water of the river Minho that the refugees had to cross and that is projected on one side of the double screen installation as a moving landscape image evokes the passing of time. Thereby ’Le Passeur’ also becomes a reflection on the nature of film in relation to the static image.
For the French film critic Serge Daney (1944-92), who is also mentioned by one of the interviewees, the ’passeur’ was an essential figure: someone who discovers secrets and - discreet as a conspirator - negotiates across borders.
Two Channel HD Color Video.
Director, script and montage: Filipa César
With Manuel José Carrilho de Simas Santos, Candida Laurinda Alves de Simas Santos, Marcelo Correia Ribeiro, José Teixeira Gomes
Executive Producer: Alexandre Azinheira
Photography: Aurélio Vasques
Sound: Magnus Pfüger
Sound Capture: Raquel Jacinto
Photography Assistant: João Miguel Branco
Montage Assistant: Bruno Grilo
Crane operator: Gonçalo Colaço
Translation: Chris Foster
Portuguese with English subtitles
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
