My Land
My Strength
by Paulo Carneiro
Documentary, in Development
Supported by CNC-France
Black land. All around, the caldera of a volcano surrounds a group of young people chatting outside a bar. Zito, 25, grasps the opportunity to sell a couple of schnapps, to those who join the group of friends and customers, during the afternoon. Tours come back from the peak every 30 minutes.
People hang around and the tour guides (Tabaco, Zabina, and others) join in as they accompany the tourists to the mini bus. There’s also someone arriving from the fields (Rosangela and Toni) or from a football match (Jaquilino). At the distance, at a slow speed, a funeral car blows a dust cloud that follows it as it nears the bar, emitting an indecipherable noise. They talk about everyday life with their eyes laid on the peak. Here, in the caldera of the Fogo volcano, young men and women prove they have the drive to rebuild a village from the ashes, as a foundation for years to come.
MY LAND MY STRENGTH is a documentary film on the island of Fogo, Cape Verde, portraying the strive of a group of youngsters to rebuild their village, destroyed upon the eruption of 2015. In Chã das Caldeiras, 2000m altitude, and in the core of the volcano’s caldera, these resilient characters ponder over recent memories of the eruption, the relatives who left, the obstacles they had to overcome so they could return, the will to start all over again and to stay. The volcano takes away, the volcano gives back. By the same token, they rebuild their lives and the village is reborn: new houses, new roads, new feuds, a football team.
This film stands against the idea of emigration as an irremediable fate, revealing a daily routine driven by work, effort and struggle. New lives and renewed dreams longing for the future.
Born in Lisbon in 1990. Graduated in Sound and Image at ESAD.CR in 2011 and later in Cinema Studies at ESTC and HEAD-Genève (FCGulbenkian fellow). He complemented his training through master classes and workshops with technicians and directors such as: Jean Paul Mugel; Joaquim Pinto; Zelimir Zilnik or Albert Serra. He collaborates often with João Viana as assistant director, editor and production manager since his first feature film “A Batalha de Tabatô” (honorable mention Berlinale 2013). He also edited the film “Our Madness” (2018) and “Madness” (2018) by the same director, both premiered at the Berlinale. In 2018, his first feature film “Bostofrio – où le ciel rejoint la terre” is awarded at Indielisboa (tree of life mention), Filmes do Homem (best Portuguese doc), Caminhos Film Festival (press award), Rencontres Cèrbere (prix rayon vert), Global India (best direction) and is shown at more than 20 international festivals.
In 2019 it opens in Portuguese cinemas in several cities (Lisbon, Cascais, Porto, Setúbal, Leiria, Vila Real and Coimbra) and is critically acclaimed as one of the films of the year by Jornal Público “One of the most surprising premieres in recent Portuguese cinema ”.
He is one of the emerging filmmakers selected for the Berlin Festival’s Berlinale Talents in 2020. Visiting Professor Degree in Artistic Studies / Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra, starting in 2021.
Synopsis
Black land. All around, the caldera of a volcano surrounds a group of young people chatting outside a bar. Zito, 25, grasps the opportunity to sell a couple of schnapps, to those who join the group of friends and customers, during the afternoon. Tours come back from the peak every 30 minutes.
People hang around and the tour guides (Tabaco, Zabina, and others) join in as they accompany the tourists to the mini bus. There’s also someone arriving from the fields (Rosangela and Toni) or from a football match (Jaquilino). At the distance, at a slow speed, a funeral car blows a dust cloud that follows it as it nears the bar, emitting an indecipherable noise. They talk about everyday life with their eyes laid on the peak. Here, in the caldera of the Fogo volcano, young men and women prove they have the drive to rebuild a village from the ashes, as a foundation for years to come.
MY LAND MY STRENGTH is a documentary film on the island of Fogo, Cape Verde, portraying the strive of a group of youngsters to rebuild their village, destroyed upon the eruption of 2015. In Chã das Caldeiras, 2000m altitude, and in the core of the volcano’s caldera, these resilient characters ponder over recent memories of the eruption, the relatives who left, the obstacles they had to overcome so they could return, the will to start all over again and to stay. The volcano takes away, the volcano gives back. By the same token, they rebuild their lives and the village is reborn: new houses, new roads, new feuds, a football team.
This film stands against the idea of emigration as an irremediable fate, revealing a daily routine driven by work, effort and struggle. New lives and renewed dreams longing for the future.
Paulo Carneiro
Born in Lisbon in 1990. Graduated in Sound and Image at ESAD.CR in 2011 and later in Cinema Studies at ESTC and HEAD-Genève (FCGulbenkian fellow). He complemented his training through master classes and workshops with technicians and directors such as: Jean Paul Mugel; Joaquim Pinto; Zelimir Zilnik or Albert Serra. He collaborates often with João Viana as assistant director, editor and production manager since his first feature film “A Batalha de Tabatô” (honorable mention Berlinale 2013). He also edited the film “Our Madness” (2018) and “Madness” (2018) by the same director, both premiered at the Berlinale. In 2018, his first feature film “Bostofrio – où le ciel rejoint la terre” is awarded at Indielisboa (tree of life mention), Filmes do Homem (best Portuguese doc), Caminhos Film Festival (press award), Rencontres Cèrbere (prix rayon vert), Global India (best direction) and is shown at more than 20 international festivals.
In 2019 it opens in Portuguese cinemas in several cities (Lisbon, Cascais, Porto, Setúbal, Leiria, Vila Real and Coimbra) and is critically acclaimed as one of the films of the year by Jornal Público “One of the most surprising premieres in recent Portuguese cinema ”.
He is one of the emerging filmmakers selected for the Berlin Festival’s Berlinale Talents in 2020. Visiting Professor Degree in Artistic Studies / Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra, starting in 2021.