Portuguese director-producer Leonel Vieira, the filmmaker behind Portuguese field workplace hit “The Courtyard of the Ballads” (“O Pátio das Cantigas”), is transferring forward with “The Night” (“A Noite”), a José Saramago adaptation set on the evening the Carnation Revolution reached a Lisbon newsroom.
The movie stars Nuno Lopes, identified internationally for Netflix’s “White Lines,” Adriano Luz, seen in Bille August’s “Night Train to Lisbon,” and Spain’s Enrique Arce, well known for Netflix world hit “Money Heist.” Vieira beforehand labored with Arce on his 2008 characteristic “The Art of Stealing.”
A Portugal-Spain co-production, “The Night” activates April 25, 1974, because the rebellion in opposition to Portugal’s dictatorship reaches a newspaper aligned with António de Oliveira Salazar’s regime. The newsroom is break up between these decided to suppress the reality and those that insist on publishing it.
The undertaking is being introduced at Cannes forward of a Lisbon shoot scheduled to start Could 25 and proceed by way of June.
Vieira will direct and produce by way of Volf Leisure, with the participation of Portuguese public broadcaster RTP, distributor NOS Audiovisuais and ICA, the Portuguese Movie and Audiovisual Institute. Spanish producer Antonio Pérez, producer of Benito Zambrano’s “Solas,” is hooked up to the undertaking on the Spanish aspect.
“The Night” is tailored from Saramago’s 1979 play “A Noite.” The screenplay is written by Vieira and journalist-actor José Martins, additionally a part of the forged, who received finest actor on the Shanghai Worldwide Movie Competition for “The Scent of Things Remembered.”
Vieira advised Selection Cannes will likely be used to discover conversations with worldwide distributors.
The director-producer described “The Night” as “a political drama about the Carnation Revolution.” The movie can also be being positioned round Saramago’s worldwide recognition, following earlier display diversifications of his work equivalent to Fernando Meirelles’ “Blindness.”
Saramago’s worldwide profile is vital to the undertaking’s positioning, based on Vieira. “We believe it can bring significant visibility due to the worldwide recognition and international reach of Saramago’s work, as well as the artistic quality of his writing,” he mentioned.
The movie’s Portugal-Spain configuration additionally provides the undertaking a cross-border industrial dimension, pairing Portuguese institutional and distribution companions with well-known Spanish producer Pérez, typically related to socially grounded auteur cinema.
Vieira additionally pointed to the forged’s worldwide visibility, led by Lopes, Luz and Arce, as a part of the movie’s attraction past Portugal. “They are three actors of exceptional artistic calibre, and I believe their performances will strongly resonate with international audiences,” Vieira mentioned. “In addition, the international audience that already knows them from previous projects will certainly be very interested in seeing them again.”
