The Metamorphosis of Birds

Catarina Vasconcelos / Portugal / 2020 / Czech Premiere / 101 min.

synopsis

Catarina’s mother died when Catarina was 17 years old. Jacinto lost his mother prematurely as well. Catarina is the director of the film, Jacinto is her father, and together, they tell their family history, marked by the resistance against the fleetingness of time, in a poetic dialogue. The film combines documentary and fiction – the story of Beatriz and Henrique and how they fell in love, had a wedding and six children together. As a sailor, Henrique spent a lot of time away from home, so his wife took care of the children mostly herself. Ttheir eldest son Jacinto has been dreaming of becoming a bird since his childhood...

“The question of metamorphosis is linked to the idea of how the character portraying my father in the film, transforms into me.” C. Vasconcelos

biography

Catarina Vasconcelos (1986) is a Portuguese film-maker. She has studied fine arts in Lisbon and visual communication at the Royal College of Art in London. In London, she also made her debut, Metaphor or Sadness Inside Out (2014), based on the correspondence between a sister and a brother, who, on the occasion of the anniversary of their mother’s death, become more interested in their family and national history.