Cast
- Tânia: Sónia Bandeira
- Hélder: Fábio Oliveira
- Domingos: Joaquim Carvalho
- Lena: Andreia Santos
- Gomes: Armando Nunes
- Celestino: Manuel Soares
- Fátima: Emmanuelle Fèvre
- Eric: Diogo Encarnação
- Baixista: Bruno Lourenço
- Rosa Maria: Maria Albarran
- Médico: Nuno Mata
- &
- Paulo “Moleiro”
- Acácio Garcia
- Luís Marante
Crew
- Directed By: Miguel Gomes
- Written By: Miguel Gomes, Mariana Ricardo, Telmo Churro
- Music Arrangement: Mariana Ricardo
- Cinematography: Rui Poças A.I.P.
- Camera Assistant: Lisa Persson
- Sound Director: Vasco Pimentel
- 1st Assistant Director: Bruno Lourenço
- 2nd Assistant Director: Catarina Ramalho
- Script: Telmo Churro
- Set Decoration & Wardrobe: Bruno Duarte
- Assistant Set Decorator: Susana Moura
- Editing: Telmo Churro, Miguel Gomes
- Sound Editor: Miguel Martins, António Lopes
- Mix: Miguel Martins
- Production Manager: Luís Urbano
- Line Producer: Patrícia Almeida
- Production Assistant: Joana Vaz da Silva
- Producers: Luís Urbano, Sandro Aguilar
- Co-Producer: Thomas Ordonneau
- With the Financial Support of ICA, IP/MC and the Participação of RTP.
- 35MM; 1:1.66; DOLBY SRD; 150’
- © O Som e a Fúria, Portugal, 2008
Our beloved Month of August
Synopsis
In the heart of Portugal, amid the mountains, the month of August is abuzz with people and activity. Emigrants return home, set off fireworks, fight fires, sing karaoke, hurl themselves from bridges, hunt wild boar, drink beer, make babies. If the director and film crew had got straight to it and resisted the temptation to join in the festivities the synopsis would come down to: “Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto” follows the affective relationship between a father and daughter, and the daughter’s cousin, all musicians in a dance band. So, love and music then.
Nota de intenções
Life isn’t always easy, my friends! In July 2006, there was a minor catastrophe. Shooting of the film, scheduled for the following month, had to be postponed indefinitely. Production funds were short for a demanding screenplay, due to be shot in Portugal’s interior during the August fiestas, and the directors casting choices. Quickly getting over that shock, the director decided to set off for the location anyway, with a 16mm camera and a crew of five – small but feisty! – and film everything he deemed worthy of recording, committing himself to rejigging the fiction accordingly. This story and those that follow it can be found in the film, although for the sake of truth it must be acknowledged that appearances are deceptive and that certain directors have an inherent inclination towards mystification. Documentary? Fiction? Halfway through this film there’s a bridge: the Roman bridge at Coja over the River Alva, from which Paulo “Moleiro” (Miller) hurls himself. Without wishing to sound like Confucius, I would say that from either one of the riverbanks the bridge unites, the other is perfectly visible. And the river is always the same.
