O Arquitecto e a Cidade Velha | The Architect and the Old City
Catarina Alves Costa | 2004
Betacam SP | 72'
Original language: Portuguese and Creole

[Synopsis]
Álvaro Siza Vieira, a famous visionary Portuguese architect, is called to coordinate the rehabilitation of the monuments and architectonic heritage of Cidade Velha (Old Village), in Santiago, one of the African islands of Cape Vert. This project creates great expectations amongst the local population, who envisages it as a way of improving their life quality. The film shows the relationship and conflict between these two worlds, two cultures, with different life concepts and ideas of what modernity and progress are...

[Credits]
Director: Catarina Alves Costa
Image: João Ribeiro / Catarina Alves Costa
Sound: Olivier Blanc
Editing: Dominique Paris / Pedro Duarte
Music: Tito Paris
Sound Mixing, Étalonage: Jean-Marc Schick, Philippe Couteux
Production: Laranja Azul (Portugal)
Co prodution: Jour J Productions (France)
Executive Producer: Catarina Mourão
Associate Producer: Sylvie Randonneix
Finantial Support: Film Institute (Portugal), RTP (Portugal), Media Distribution, Institute of the Arts (Portugal), IPAD (Portugal), CNC (France), UNESCO, DAPA, Ministry of Foreign Affaires (France), Voisénart, RAI SAT, Câmara Municipal do Porto (Portugal).

[Awards and Exhibitions]
Audience award for Best Documentary in Caminhos do Cinema Português - Coimbra, Portugal 2004
Nordic Anthropological Film Festival - Estonia, May 2004
Gottingen International Film Festival - Germany, May 2004
Visual Cultures Festival - Finland, October 2004
Rassegna Internatzionale Filme Etnografici - Sardegna, Italia, October 2004