A Portuguese Village’s Struggle Against a Lithium Mining Giant Takes Center Stage at Cannes in Paulo Carneiro’s ‘Savanna and the Mountain’
variety.comMartin Dale Contributor Paulo Carneiro‘s third feature, “Savanna and the Mountain,” is world premiering at this year’s Cannes in the Director’s Fortnight section.
The film depicts a David-and-Goliath struggle between rural folk from Covas de Barroso in the North of Portugal and London-based Savannah Resources, which plans to build Europe’s biggest open-air lithium mine.
The venture to carve out the local mountains in the search for lithium, first proposed around 2017, has been met with fierce resistance from local villages and councils.
A corruption scandal associated with the fast-tracked approval process led to the downfall of the previous Socialist government, led by Antonio Costa, a recent general election that saw the center-right party PSD take power, and a surge in votes for the far-right party, Chega.
Read more on variety.com
