Catarina Vasconcelos: Last News

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor“The Metamorphosis of Birds,” which premiered in the Encounters sidebar of the Berlin Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI prize from the international critics’ jury, has been sold in multiple major territories, including the U.S., the U.K., China, Italy and Spain.Portuguese director Catarina Vasconcelos’ “beautifully pensive, lyrical debut feature,” in the words of the Variety review, explores her family stories in the form of a fictionalized documentary. (Read our interview with the director here and the review here.)The film’s distribution rights went to Grasshopper in the U.S., Acéphale in Canada, Huanxi Media Group in China, Robert Beeson’s New Wave Films in the U.K.

Jessica Kiang It began, we must suppose, with the letters. Director Catarina Vasconcelos’ grandfather Henrique was a Portuguese sailor gone for long, homesick periods from his children and his wife, Triz.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterPressing on with plans to hold its physical edition September 18-26, Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, the competitive strand that does not mandate any style or length standards.There are 10 features and nine shorts present this year.