Total Station
by Susana de Sousa Dias
Documentary, in production
Supported by ICA and RTP
Total Station (working title) takes as its starting point the material and living traces of the Fazenda Tentativa, a former colonial sugar plantation in the north of Angola.
Combining myths and factual reports, drone footage and archives, words and songs, testimonies and dreams, the film questions the construction of History and the mutations of colonialism, simultaneously revealing practices of resistance hidden until today.
Susana de Sousa Dias was born in Lisbon, in 1962. She has a Doctorate in Fine Arts (Audiovisual), a master’s degree in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, a degree in Painting and a bachelors degree in Cinema. She studied music at the National Conservatory. Among her works are “Natureza Morta – Visages d’une dictature” (2005, Atalanta Prize, TaiwanIDF), “48” (2009, Grand Prix Cinéma du Réel, FIPRESCI prize, among others), Still Life | Stilleben (installation, 2010) and “Obscure Light” (2017). Fordlandia Malaise (2019) is her most recent film.
Susana’s works were exhibited at international film festivals and exhibitions (Viennale, Visions du Réel, Sarajevo IFF, Torino FF, PhotoEspaña, Documenta, etc.). In 2012 she received a tribute from Cinéma du Réel and was a guest artist at the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, New York. That same year she formed a group that directed the Doclisboa, International Film Festival for two consecutive editions (2012-2013). She is a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon.
Synopsis
Total Station (working title) takes as its starting point the material and living traces of the Fazenda Tentativa, a former colonial sugar plantation in the north of Angola.
Combining myths and factual reports, drone footage and archives, words and songs, testimonies and dreams, the film questions the construction of History and the mutations of colonialism, simultaneously revealing practices of resistance hidden until today.
Susana de Sousa Dias
Susana de Sousa Dias was born in Lisbon, in 1962. She has a Doctorate in Fine Arts (Audiovisual), a master’s degree in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, a degree in Painting and a bachelors degree in Cinema. She studied music at the National Conservatory. Among her works are “Natureza Morta – Visages d’une dictature” (2005, Atalanta Prize, TaiwanIDF), “48” (2009, Grand Prix Cinéma du Réel, FIPRESCI prize, among others), Still Life | Stilleben (installation, 2010) and “Obscure Light” (2017). Fordlandia Malaise (2019) is her most recent film.
Susana’s works were exhibited at international film festivals and exhibitions (Viennale, Visions du Réel, Sarajevo IFF, Torino FF, PhotoEspaña, Documenta, etc.). In 2012 she received a tribute from Cinéma du Réel and was a guest artist at the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, New York. That same year she formed a group that directed the Doclisboa, International Film Festival for two consecutive editions (2012-2013). She is a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon.