In the context of the exhibition Magmatic Bodies, this film screening at the University of the Azores will feature four short films selected by the artists and curator Joana Albuquerque, Isabel Medeiros, Sofia Sousa and Marta Espiridião, as a way of expanding the dialog on the themes covered by the exhibition.

Flores, Jorge Jácome
(2017, 27")
Faced with a natural crisis in the Azores caused by an uncontrollable plague of hydrangeas, the Azorean population is forced to leave the islands. Two young soldiers, captured by the beauty of the landscape, guide us through the narratives of those who have left and the inherent desire to resist, by staying. Through this wandering, the film takes on a nostalgic and political reflection about territory and identity, as well as the role we play in the places to which we belong.

Deep Sea Rising, Diogo da Cruz & Fallon Mayanja
(2022, 31")
After the Atlantic Research Center was bought by a mining company, biologist Nadia Eckel returned to the Azores. This time, with a very clear task: to present a report that confirms the resilience of the seabed biosphere, allowing deep-sea mining to proceed. However, during the analysis of different water samples, both from the ocean floor and from other environments on the island, Eckel begins a dialog with an unknown life form. Going back hundreds of years, Carlota and Aidan talk about the crossing that led them to the island during a late afternoon walk. As the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that Aidan lives beyond the human timescale and reappears in different forms throughout history, including after the extinction of the human species. Through microscopic and macroscopic perspectives of the island's volcanic environment, the film invites us to reflect on the omnipresence of water and to look at the Atlantic not only as the place where life originated, but also as a container of memory, a witness to the colonial crimes committed by European countries.

Uma Ideia, Sara Massa
(2024, 1”32’)
“When I was little, I used to look at my father's tractor and imagine myself driving it. At the age of twenty-two and, after so many years, I understood why I wanted to do it. What for many is strange and unusual, for me is the creation of a new concept and the demystification of another. Uma Ideia is about many ideas, among the many, reformulating women. It's not about fighting prejudice, it's about creating concepts. The ideas that have never seen the light of day are all those that could be part of this new concept.”

A Year Without Summer, Gosia Trajkowska & Agata Lech
(2020, 10”)
A Year Without Summer is a poetic exploration of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora and the global consequences that followed. The film anesthetizes the global catastrophe of the so-called "year without summer" to deal with the fear that has accompanied us for a long time: the fear of the end of the world. This work unfolds like a dreamlike delirium — a shared dream where thoughts converge during a solitary bus ride home. It is a narrative built from the accidental crumbs that fall onto the concrete. When lit by the sun, they looked like cosmic particles. (The film uses fragments of Natalia Waloch’s article titled A Whole Year Without Summer. How the Eruption of Mount Tambora Affected Humanity, Gazeta Wyborcza, 2017)


*the order of presentation of the films may change