Documentary Films - Competition 2015 / IEC Long / Portugal 2014
Macao, the former Portuguese colony on Chinese soil, was known as a center of fireworks production. The IEC Long factory, the last monument to the area's industrial past, today lies in ruins. The half-hour documentary captures the eerie silence and starkness of a place that for decades belched out products guaranteed to provide explosive fun.
Beginning in the 18th century, Macao, the former Portuguese colony on Chinese soil, was known as a center of fireworks production. The well-known IEC Long factory, the last monument to the area’s industrial past, today lies in ruins. “It was dangerous work, there were many explosions,” a former worker sadly comments, adding: “There were lots of dead people, many of whom were children... I lost many friends. Yes, these memories haunt me like ghosts.” The distinctive half-hour documentary captures the eerie silence and starkness of a place that for decades belched out products guaranteed to provide explosive fun.
Martin Horyna
30 min / Color, DCP
Director João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata
/ Screenplay João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata
/ Dir. of Photography João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata
/ Editor Tomás Baltazar, João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata
/ Producer João Figueiras
/ Production Blackmaria
/ Sales Agência - Portuguese Short Film Agency
João Pedro Rodrigues (b. 1966, Lisbon) attended Lisbon Film School. He went on to become an award-winning director whose films have screened at major festivals: Phantom (O Fantasma, 2000 – Venice) and Odete (2005 – Cannes). João Rui Guerra da Mata (Lourenço Marques, Mozambique) took greater participation in Rodrigues’ films after appearing in the director’s short Parabéns! (1997). His independent debut came with As the Flames Rose (O que arde cura, 2012).
Agência - Portuguese Short Film Agency
Auditório Municipal, 4480-715, Vila do Conde
Portugal
Phone: +351 252 646 683
Fax: +351 252 638 027
E-mail: [email protected]
Tomás Baltazar
Film Editor
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