| FESTWORKS

From: Robert Koehler <roberthkoehler@gmail.com>
Date: April 26, 2010 9:52:08 AM PDT
Subject: Indie Lisboa–Days 3-4

Revolution Day! 25 April marked the 36th anniversary of Portugal’s liberation from the corrosive Salazar dictatorship which had been the country’s yoke for decades. I didn’t even plan to wear a color-appropriate tshirt for the occasion–just tossed on whatever was hanging in my hotel room closet. This is a mere block from my hotel, looking south down Ave. de Liberdade from Marques Pombal square. The annual parade/demo/manifestation begins at this square, and proceeds south down Liberdade, past the Sao Jorge cinemas where the festival begins and ends. Note the red flags in the background….

A mother brings her child to 25 April, walking down shady Liberdade. That’s the revolution’s trademark carnation that the child is waving. The lovely tilework lines the sidewalks throughout central Lisbon.

An old veteran of the Revolution returns to the scene of victory 36 years ago…

A tank from the Revolution leads the march down Liberdade. This guy had an effectively booming voice, leading the charge….

One of the tank’s tires, appropriately decorated…

The march begins a moment after this was shot, as a breeze catches the Portuguese flag…

Marching down Liberdade, 25 Abril is in full red….

The two-screen Londres cinemas are one of the festival’s central spots, especially with the Magnolia Cafe (our common lunch and dinner spot) just steps away under the same roof. This is the door handle leading to Theatre Two, where I had just viewed Peter Mettler’s characteristically amazing cinema–in this case, his mid-length “Petropolis,” commissioned by Greenpeace Canada, observing Canada’s vast oil tar sands refinery project, so vast that it can only be perceived from an airborne helicopter, which is precisely what Mettler does. It is unforgettable and terrifying viewing.